american 


EDITED   BY 

JOHN  T.  MORSE,  JR. 

A 


American 


.    JOHN  ADAMS 


JOHN  T.  MORSE,  JR. 


BOSTON 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND   COMPANY 

New  York:    11  East  Seventeenth  Street 


1885 


Copyright,  1884, 
BY  JOHN  T.  MORSE,  JR. 


All  rights  reserved. 


The  Riverside  Press,  Cambridge  : 
Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  H,  0.  Houghton  &  Co. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

YOUTH       .        .        .        . 1    I/ 

CHAPTER  II. 
AT  THE  BAR 17 

CHAPTER  III. 
THE  FIRST  CONGRESS      .        .        ...        .        .        .50 

CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  SECOND  SESSION  OF  CONGRESS      .        «        .        .82 

CHAPTER   V. 
INDEPENDENCE .        .  104 

CHAPTER  VI. 
AFTER  INDEPENDENCE     .        .        .        .        .        .        .130 

CHAPTER   VII. 
FIRST  FOREIGN  MISSION         .        .        .        .        .        .147 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

SECOND  FOREIGN   MISSION  :   IN    FRANCE   AND  ENG 
LAND      .  ...  156 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

PAGE 

THE  TREATY  OF  PEACE  :  THE  ENGLISH  MISSION  .        .198 

CHAPTER  X. 
THE  VICE-PRESIDENCY     .         .        .  .        .        .241 

CHAPTER  XI. 
THE  PRESIDENCY 265 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  BREAKING  UP 311 

INDEX  .  331 


JOHN  ADAMS. 
CHAPTER  I. 

YOUTH. 

IN  the  first  charter  of  the  colony  of  Massa 
chusetts  Bay,  granted  by  Charles  I.  and  dated 
March  4,  1629,  the  name  of  Thomas  Adams 
appears  as  one  of  the  grantees.  But  he  never 
crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  Henry  Adams,  pos 
sibly  though  not  certainly  his  younger  brother, 
first  bore  the  name  on  this  side  of  the  water. 
In  1636  this  Henry  was  one  of  the  grantees  of 
sundry  parcels  of  land  at  Mount  Wollaston, 
soon  afterward  made  the  town  of  Braintree,  in 
which  neighborhood  descendants  from  him 
have  continued  to  have  dwellings  and  to  own 
extensive  tracts  of  land  to  the  present  day. 
The  John  Adams  with  whom  we  have  to  do 
was  of  the  fourth  generation  in  descent  from 
Henry,  and  was  born  at  Braintree,  October  19, 
1735.  His  father  was  also  named  John  Adams  ; 
his  mother  was  Susanna  Boylston,  daughter  of 
i 


2  JOHN  ADAMS. 

Peter  Boylston,  of  the  neighboring  town  of 
Brookline. 

The  founder  of  the  American  family  appar 
ently  could  do  little  better  for  himself  than 
simply  to  hold  his  own  in  the  desperate  strug 
gle  for  existence  amid  sterile  hills  and  hostile 
Indians.  At  his  death  he  left,  as  his  whole  es 
tate,  a  small  bit  of  land,  of  which  there  was 
no  dearth  on  the  new  continent,  a  house  of 
three  rooms,  and  a  barn ;  in  the  house  there 
were  three  beds,  some  kitchen  utensils,  a  silver 
spoon,  and  a  few  old  books  ;  in  the  barn  were 
a  cow  and  calf,  pigs  and  a  little  fodder.  The 
whole  property  was  valued  at  £75  13s.  Lit 
tle  by  little,  however,  the  sturdy  workers  in 
successive  years  wrenched  increased  belongings 
from  the  reluctant  soil ;  so  that  the  inventory 
of  the  estate  of  our  John  Adams's  father,  who 
died  in  1760,  shows  £1,330  9s.  Sd. 

A  man  so  well-to-do  as  this  could  afford  to 
give  one  son  a  good  education,  and  John 
Adams,  being  the  eldest,  had  the  advantage  of 
going  through  Harvard  College.  Such  was  the 
privilege,  the  only  privilege,  with  which  primo 
geniture  was  invested  by  the  custom  of  the  fam 
ily.  Indeed,  our  John  Adams's  grandfather, 
who  also  had  educated  his  eldest  son  at  college, 
afterward  divided  his  property  among  his  other 
children,  thinking  that  thus  he  made  matters 


YOUTH.  3 

as  nearly  equal  and  fair  between  them  all  as 
was  possible.  John  Adams  was  graduated  in 
the_  class  of  1755,  which,  as  his  son  tells  us, 
"in  proportion  to  its  numbers  contained  as 
many  men  afterwards  eminent  in  the  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  departments  as  any  class  that 
ever  was  graduated  at  that  institution."  He 
was  reputed  to  be  a  very  good  scholar,  but  can 
not  be  accurately  compared  with  his  comrades, 
since  rank  was  not  then  given  for  scholarship. 
The  students  took  precedence  according  to  the 
social  standing  of  their  parents,  and  upon  such 
a  scale  the  Adams  family  were  a  trifle  nearer 
to  the  bottom  than  to  the  top.  In  a  class  of 
twenty-four  members  John  was  fourteenth,  and 
even  for  this  modest  station  "  he  was  probably 
indebted  rather  to  the  standing  of  his  mater 
nal  family  than  to  that  of  his  father."  John 
Quincy  Adams  very  frankly  says  that  in  those 
days  "  the  effect  of  a  college  education  was  to 
introduce  a  youth  of  the  condition  of  John 
Adams  into  a  different  class  of  familiar  ac 
quaintance  from  that  of  his  father."  Later  in 
life  John  Adams  became  noted  as  an  aristocrat, 
and  incurred  not  a  little  ridicule  and  animosity 
through  his  proclivities  and  personal  preten 
sions  of  this  kind.  In  fact,  he  was  that  pecul 
iar  production  of  American  domestic  manufac 
ture  which  may  perhaps  be  properly  described 


4  JOHN  ADAMS. 

as  a  self-made  aristocrat,^' a  character  familiar 
enough  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  but  which 
Lord  Thurlow  almost  alone  could  bring  within 
the  comprehension  of  Englishmen.  Fortu 
nately,  in  Adams's  individual  case,  his  ability 
to  maintain  the  position  prevented  his  passion 
from  appearing  so  comical  as  the  like  feeling  so 
often  does  with  inferior  men.  Nor  indeed  was 
he  always  and  altogether  devoid  of  sound  sense 
in  this  respect ;  he  wrote  in  1791  that,  if  he 
could  ever  suppose  family  pride  to  be  any  way 
excusable,  he  should  "  think  a  descent  from  a 
line  of  virtuous,  independent  New  England 
farmers  for  a  hundred  and  sixty  years  was  a 
better  foundation  for  it  than  a  descent  from 
regal  or  noble  scoundrels  ever  since  the  flood." 
The  truth  is  that  a  proper  pride  in  one's  own 
descent,  if  it  can  be  sustained,  is  neither  an  un- 
amiable  nor  a  mischief-working  trait;  Adams 
had  it  in  the  true  American  shape,  and  was  in 
fluenced  by  it  only  in  the  direction  of  good. 
He  was  at  once  gratified  and  satisfied  with 
having  a  lineage  simply  respectable. 

The  boyhood  and  youth  of  John  Adams  are 
incumbered  with  none  of  those  tedious  apoc 
rypha  which  constitute  a  prophetic  atmosphere 
in  the  initial  chapter  of  most  biographies.  No 
one  ever  dreamed  that  he  was  to  be  a  great 
man  until  he  was  well  advanced  in  middle  age, 

o    ' 


YOUTH.  5 

and  even  then,  in  the  estimation  of  all  persons 
save  himself,  he  had  many  peers  and  perhaps  a 
very  few  superiors.  As  "  the  fourth  Harry,  our 
King "  philosophically  remarked,  upon  hear 
ing  of  "  Lord  Perse's  "  death  at  Otterbourne, 

"  I  have  a  hondrith  captains  in  Inglande,  he  sayd, 
As  good  as  ever  was  hee ;  " 

though  probably  enough  Percy's  valuation  of 
himself  was  different.  Pretty  much  the  first 
authentic  knowledge  which  we  get  of  John 
Adams  comes  from  his  own  pen.  On  Novem- 
bejt*  15,  1755,  just  after  his  twentieth  birthday, 
he  began  a  diary.  Intermittently,  suffering 
many  serious  breaks  provokingly  to  diminish 
its  just  value,  he  continued  it  until  November 
21^1777.  Only  a  few  years  more  elapsed  be 
fore  the  famous  diary  of  his  son  John  Quincy 
Adams  was  begun,  which  ran  through  its  re 
markable  course  until  1848  ;  and  it  is  said  that 
a  similar  work  has  been  done  in  the  third  gen 
eration.  If  this  be  so,  much  more  than  one 
hundred  years  of  American  annals  will  be  illu 
minated  by  the  memorials  of  this  one  family 
in  a  manner  unprecedented  in  history  and 
equally  useful  and  agreeable.  So  portentous  a 
habit  of  diary-writing  is  an  odd  form  for  the 
development  of  heredity.  But  at  least  it  en 
ables  historical  students  to  observe  the  descent 
of  traits  of  mind  and  character  more  naturally 


6  JOHN  ADAMS. 

transmissible  than  such  a  taste.  The  Adams 
blood  was  strong  blood,  too  strong  to  be  seri 
ously  modified  by  alien  strains  introduced  by 
marriage.  It  was  not  a  picturesque  stream,  but 
it  was  vigorous,  it  cut  its  way  without  much 
loitering  or  meandering,  and  when  strange  rivu 
lets  united  with  it  they  had  to  take  its  color  as 
well  as  its  course.  John  Quincy  Adams,  whose 
story  has  been  told  before  that  of  his  father  in 
this  series,  was  a  veritable  chip  from  the  old 
block,  a  sturdy,  close  -  fibred  old  block  well 
adapted  for  making  just  such  solid,  slightly 
cross-grained  chips.  Only  the  son  was  more 
civilized,  or  rather  more  self-restrained  and 
conventional  than  the  father ;  the  ruggedness 
of  the  earlier  fighter  and  self-made  man  was 
rubbed  smoother  in  the  offspring,  inheriting 
greatness  and  growing  up  amid  more  polishing 
forces. 

In  youth  John  Adams  was  an  admirable 
specimen  of  the  New  England  Puritan  of  his 
generation,  not  excessively  strait-laced  in  mat 
ters  of  doctrine,  but  religious  by  habit  and  by 
instinct,  rigid  in  every  point  of  morals,  con 
scientious,  upright,  pure-minded,  industrious. 
The  real  truth  about  that  singular  community 
is  that  they  mingled  theology  with  loose  mor 
als,  in  a  proportion  not  correctly  appreciated 
by  their  descendants;  for  historians  have  dwelt 


YOUTH. 


upon  the  one  ingredient  of  this  mixture,  and 
have  ignored  the  other,  so  that  the  truth  has 
become  obscured.  Certain  it  is  that  long  ser 
mons  and  much  polemical  controversy  were  off 
set  by  a  great  deal  of  hard  drinking  and  not  a 
little  indulgence  in  carnal  sins.  John  Adams, 
like  the  better  men  of  the  day,  reversed  the  pro 
portions,  and  instead  of  subordinating  morality 
to  religion,  he  gave  to  morals  a  decided  prepon 
derance.  In  his  diary  he  grumbles  not  only  at 
others,  but  also  very  freely  at  himself,  partly 
because  it  was  then  his  nature  always  to  grum 
ble  a  good  deal  about  everything  and  every 
body,  partly  to  fulfill  the  acknowledged  Chris 
tum  duty  of  self-abasement.  He  had  an  early 
tendency  to  censoriousness,  not  to  be  compared 
in  degree  to  that  development  of  this  failure 
which  disfigured  his  son,  but  furnishing  a  strong 
germ  for  the  later  growth.  While  passing 
through  periods  of  discontent,  which  occasion 
ally  beset  his  opening  manhood,  his  deprecia 
tory  habit  was  too  strong  to  be  checked  even 
in  his  own  case,  and  he  constantly  falls  his 
own  victim,  beneath  his  passion  for  uncharita 
ble  criticism.  Also  like  his  son,  though  more 
intermittently  and  in  a  less  degree,  he  is  pos 
sessed  of  the  devil  of  suspiciousness,  constantly 
conceiving  himself  to  be  the  object  of  limitless 
envy,  malice,  hostility,  and  of  the  most  ignoble 


8  JOHN  ADAMS. 

undermining  processes.  As  a  young  man  he 
often  imagined  that  his  neighbors  and  acquaint- 
ances  were  resolved  that  he  should  not  get  on 
in  the  world,  though  it  does  not  appear  that  he 
encountered  any  peculiar  or  exceptional  obsta 
cles  of  this  kind.  But  to  his  credit  it  may  be 
noted  that  in  his  early  years  he  had  a  knowl 
edge  of  these  weaknesses  of  his  disposition, 
liv-  wishes  Unit  IK-  e<ui]<l  COIMJIUT  his  u  natural 
pride  and  self -conceit  ;  expect  no  more  defer 
ence  from  my  fellows  than  I  deserve ;  acquire 
meekness  and  humility,"  etc.  He  acknowledges 
having  been  too  ready  with  "  ill-natured  re 
marks  upon  the  intellectuals,  manners,  practice, 
etc.,  of  other  people."  He  wisely  resolves  "  for 
the  future,  never  to  say  an  ill-natured  thing 
concerning  ministers  or  the  ministerial  profes 
sion  ;  never  to  say  an  envious  thing  concerning 
governors,  judges,  clerks,  sheriffs,  lawyers,  or 
any  other  honorable  or  lucrative  offices  or  offi 
cers  ;  never  to  show  my  own  importance  or  su 
periority  by  remarking  the  foibles,  vices,  or  in 
feriority  of  others.  But  I  now  resolve,  as  far  as 
lies  in  me,  to  take  notice  chiefly  of  the  amiable 
qualities  of  other  people ;  to  put  the  most  favor 
able  construction  upon  the  weaknesses,  bigotry, 
and  errors  of  others,  etc. ;  and  to  labor  more  for 
an  inoffensive  and  amiable  than  for  a  shining 
and  invidious  character  ;  "  —  most  wise  com- 

V 


YOUTH.  9 

munings,  showing  an  admirable  introspection, 
yet  resolves  which  could  not  at  present  be  con 
sistently  carried  out  by  their  maker.  Adams's 
nature,  both  in  its  good  and  in  its  ill  traits, 
was  far  too  strong  to  be  greatly  re-shaped  by 
any  efforts  which  he  could  make.  The  ele 
ments  of  his  powerful  character  were  immuta 
ble,  and  underwent  no  substantial  and  perma 
nent  modifications  either  through  voluntary  ef 
fort  or  by  the  pressure  of  circumstances  ;  in  all 
important  points  he  was  the  same  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave,  with  perhaps  a  brief  ex 
ception  during  the  earlier  period  of  his  service 
in  the  Revolutionary  Congress,  when  we  shall 
see  him  rising  superior  to  all  his  foibles,  and 
presenting  a  wonderfully  noble  appearance. 
The  overweening  vanity,  which  became  a  ridic 
ulous  disfigurement  after  he  had  climbed  high 
upon  the  ladder  of  distinction,  was  not  yet  ex 
cessive  while  he  still  lingered  upon  the  first 
rounds.  Indeed,  he  is  shrewd  enough  to  say  : 
"  Vanity,  I  am  sensible,  is  my  cardinal  vice "") 
and  cardinal  folly ; "  and  he  even  has  occa^/ 
sional  fits  of  genuine  diffidence  of  his  own  pow 
ers  and  distrust  as  to  his  prospects  of  moder 
ate  success.  Only  when  that  success  actually 
came  did  all  chance  of  curing  himself  of  the 
fault  disappear.  As  a  young  man  he  cherished 
no  lofty  ambition,  or  at  least  he  kept  it  mod- 


10  JOHN  ADAMS. 

estly  in  the  background.  He  does  not  at  all 
resemble  his  rival  of  later  years,  Alexander 
Hamilton  ;  he  is  conscious  of  no  extraordinary 
ability,  and  longs  for  no  remarkable  career,  nor 
asserts  any  fitness  for  it.  ^His  anticipations, 
even  his  hopes,  seem  limited  to  achieving  that 
measure  of  prosperity,  good  repute,  and  influ 
ence,  which  attend  upon  the  more  prominent 
men  of  any  neighborhood.  A  circuit  of  forty 
miles  around  Boston  is  a  large  enough  sphere, 
beyond  which  his  dreams  of  the  future  do  not 
wander. 

A  youth  who  had  received  a  collegiate  edu 
cation  at  a  cost  of  not  inconsiderable  sacrifice 
on  the  part  of  his  parents,  lay  in  those  days 
under  a  sort  of  moral  obligation  to  adopt  a  pro 
fession.  Between  law,  divinity,  and  medicine, 
therefore,  Adams  had  to  make  his  choice.  Fur 
ther,  while  contemplating  the  subject  and  pre 
paring  himself  for  one  of  these  pursuits  he 
ought  to  support  himself.  To  this  end  he  ob 
tained  the  position  of  master  of  the  grammar 
school  at  Worcester,  whither  he  repaired  in  the 
summer  of  1755.  His  first  tendency  was  to 
become  a  clergyman,^  not  so  much,  apparently, 
by  reason  of  any  strong  fancy  for  the  clerical 
calling  as  because  there  seems  to  have  been  a 
sort  of  understanding  on  the  part  of  his  family 
and  friends  that  he  should  make  this  selection, 


YOUTH.  11 

and  lie  was  willing  enough  to  gratify  them. 
It  was  not  altogether  so  singular  and  foolish  a 
notion  as  at  first  it  strikes  us.  The  New  Eng 
land  clergy  still  retained  much  of  the  prestige 
and  influence  which  they  had  enjoyed  in  the 
earlier  colonial  days,  when  they  had  exercised 
a  civil  authority  often  overshadowing  that  of 
the  nominal  officers  of  government.  Men  of 
great  ability  and  strong  character  still  found 
room  for  their  aspirations  in  the  ministry. 
They  were  a  set  to  be  respected,  obeyed,  even 
to  some  extent  to  be  feared,  but  hardly  to  be 
loved,  and  vastly  unlike  the  Christian  minister 
of  the  present  day.  They  were  not  required 
to  be  sweet-tempered,  nor  addicted  to  loving- 
kindness,  nor  to  be  charitably  disposed  towards 
one  another,  or  indeed  towards  anybody.  On 
the  contrary,  they  were  a  dictatorial,  militant, 
polemical,  not  to  say  a  quarrelsome  and  harsh- 
tongued  race.  They  were  permitted  and  even 
encouraged  to  display  much  vigor  in  speech  and 
action.  Nevertheless  the  figure  of  impetuous, 
dogmatic,  combative,  opinionated,  energetic, 
practical,  and  withal  liberal  John  Adams  in  a 
pulpit  &s  exceedingly  droll.  He  was  much  too  i 
big,  too  enterprising,  too  masterful  for  such  a  I 
cage.  He  would  have  resembled  the  wolf  of  V 
the  story,  who  could  never  keep  himself  wholly 
covered  by  the  old  dame's  cloak.  His  irrepress- 


12  JOHN  ADAMS. 

ibly  secular  nature  would  have  been  constantly 
protruding  at  one  point  or  another  from  be 
neath  the  clerical  raiment.  It  would  have  been 
inevitable  that  sooner  or  later  he  should  escape 
altogether  from  the  uncongenial  thraldom,  at 
the  cost  of  a  more  or  less  serious  waste  of  time 
and  somewhat  ridiculous  process  of  change. 
Fortunately  his  good  sense  or  sound  instinct 
saved  him  from  a  too  costly  blunder.  Yet  for 
many  months  his  diary  is  sprinkled  with  re 
marks  concerning  the  flinty  theology,  and  the 
intense,  though  very  unchristian,  Christianity 
of  those  days.  Nevertheless  the  truth  con 
stantly  peeps  out ;  disputatious  enough,  and 
severe  upon  backslidings,  he  appears  not  suffi 
ciently  narrow  in  intellect  and  merciless  in  dis 
position  ;  he*  could  not  squeeze  himself  within 
the  rigid  confines  which  hemmed  in  the  local 
divine.  It  is  to  no  purpose  that  he  resolves 
"  to  rise  with  the  sun  and  to  study  the  Scrip 
tures  on  Thursday,  Friday,  Saturday,  and  Sun 
day  mornings,"  and  that  occasionally  he  writes 
"  Scripture  poetry  industriously  "  of  a  morning. 
The  effort  is  too  obvious.  Yet  he  was  relig 
iously  inclined.  The  great  Lisbon  earthquake 
of  1755,  which  filled  Europe  with  infidels,  in 
spired  him  with  a  sense  of  religious  awe.  "  God 
Almighty,"  he  says,  "  has  exerted  the  strength 
of  his  tremendous  arm,  and  shook  one  of  the 


YOUTH.  13 

finest,  richest,  and  most  populous  cities  in 
Europe  into  ruin  and  destruction  by  an  earth 
quake.  The  greatest  part  of  Europe  and  the 
greatest  part  of  America  have  been  in  violent 
convulsions,  and  admonished  the  inhabitants  of 
both  that  neither  riches  nor  honors  nor  the 
solid  globe  itself  is  a  proper  basis  on  which  to 
build  our  hopes  of  security."  The  Byronic  pe 
riod  of  his  youth  even  takes  a  religious  form. 
He  gloomily  reflects  that :  — 

"  One  third  of  our  time  is  consumed  in  sleep,  and 
three  sevenths  of  the  remainder  is  spent  in  procuring 
a  mere  animal  sustenance  ;  and  if  we  live  to  the  age 
of  three-score  and  ten,  and  then  sit  down  to  make  an 
estimate  in  our  minds  of  the  happiness  we  have  en 
joyed  and  the  misery  we  have  suffered,  we  shall  find, 
I  am  apt  to  think,  that  the  overbalance  of  happi 
ness  is  quite  inconsiderable.  We  shall  find  that  we 
have  been,  through  the  greater  part  of  our  lives,  pur 
suing  shadows,  and  empty  but  glittering  phantoms, 
rather  than  substances.  1  We  shall  find  that  we  have 
applied  our  whole  vigor,  all  our  faculties,  in  the  pur 
suit  of  honor  or  wealth  or  learning,  or  some  other 
such  delusive  trifle,  instead  of  the  real  and  everlast 
ing  excellences  of  piety  and  virtue.  Habits  of  con 
templating  the  Deity  and  his  transcendent  excel 
lences,  and  correspondent  habits  of  complacency  in 
and  dependence  upon  Him  ;  habits  of  reverence  and 
gratitude  to  God,  and  habits  of  love  and  compassion 
to  our  fellow-men,  and  habits  of  temperance,  recollec- 


14  JOHN  ADAMS. 

tion,  and  self-government,  will  afford  us  a  real  and 
substantial  pleasure.  We  may  then  exult  in  a  con 
sciousness  of  the  favor  of  God  and  the  prospect  of 
everlasting  felicity." 

A  young  man  of  twenty  who,  in  our  day, 
should  write  in  this  strain  would  be  thought  fit 
for  nothing  better  than  the  church  ;  but  Adams 
was  really  at  war  with  the  prevalent  church 
spirit  of  New  England.  Thus  one  evening  in 
a  conversation  with  Major  Greene  "  about  the 
divinity  and  satisfaction  of  Jesus  Christ,"  the 
major  advanced  the  argument  that  "  a  mere 
creature  or  finite  being  could,  not  make  satis 
faction  to  infinite  justice  for  any  crimes,"  and 
suggested  that  "  these  things  are  very  mysteri 
ous."  Adams's  crisp  commentary  was  :  "  Thus 
mystery  is  made  a  convenient  cover  for  absurd 
ity."  Again  he  asks :  "  Where  do  we  find 
a  precept  in  the  gospel  requiring  ecclesiasti 
cal  synods  ?  convocations  ?  councils  ?  decrees  ? 
creeds  ?  confessions  ?  oaths  ?  subscriptions  ?  and 
whole  cart-loads  of  other  trumpery  that  we 
find  religion  incumbered  with  in  these  days  ?  " 
Independence  in  thought  and  expression  soon 
caused  him  to  be  charged  with  the  heinous  un- 
soundness  of  Arminianism,  an  accusation  which 
he  endeavored  neither  to  palliate  nor  deny,  but 
quite  cheerfully  admitted.  A  few  such  com 
ments,  more  commerce  even  with  the  tiny  colo- 


YOUTH.  15 

nial  world  around  him,  a  little  thinking  and 
discussion  upon  doctrinal  points,  sufficed  for  his 
shrewd  common  sense,  and  satisfied  him  that 
he  was  not  fitted  to  labor  in  the  ministerial 
vineyard  as  he  saw  it  platted  and  walled  in. 
Accordingly,  upon  August  21,  1756,  he  defi 
nitely  renounced  the  scheme.  On  the  follow 
ing  day  he  writes  gravely  in  his  diary  :  — 

"  Yesterday  I  completed  a  contract  with  Mr.  Put 
nam  to  study  law  under  his  inspection  for  two  years. 
.  .  .  Necessity  drove  me  to  this  determination,  but 
my  inclination,  I  think,  was  to  preach  ;  however,  that 
would  not  do.  But  I  set  out  with  firm  resolutions,  I 
think,  never  to  commit  any  meanness  or  injustice  in 
the  practice  of  law.  The  study  and  practice  of  law, 
I  am  sure,  does  not  dissolve  the  obligations  of  mo 
rality  or  of  religion ;  and,  although  the  reason  of  my 
quitting  divinity  was  my  opinion  concerning  some  dis 
puted  points,  I  hope  I  shall  not  give  reason  of  offense 
to  any  in  that  profession  by  imprudent  warmth." 

Thus  fortunately  for  himself  and  for  the  peo 
ple  of  the  colonies,  Adams  escaped  the  first 
peril  which  threatened  the  abridgment  of  his 
great  usefulness.  Yet  the  choice  was  not  made 
without  opposition  from  "uncles  and  other  re- 
lations,  full  of  the  most  illiberal  prejudices 
against  the  law."  Adams  says  that  he  had  "a 
proper  veneration  and  affection  "  for  these  rel 
atives,  but  that  being  "  under  no  obligation  of 


16  JOHN  ADAMS. 

gratitude  "  to  them  he  "  thought  little  of  their 
opinions."  Young  men  nowadays  are  little 
apt  to  be  controlled  by  uncles  or  even  aunts  in 
such  matters,  but  John  Adams's  independence 
was  more  characteristic  of  himself  than  of  those 
times. 


CHAPTER  II. 

AT  THE  BAB. 

ON  August  23, 1756,  Adams  says  that  he 
"  came  to  Mr.  Putnam's  and  began  law,  and 
studied  not  very  closely  this  week."  But  he 
was  no  sluggard  in  any  respect  save  that  he 
was  fond  of  lying  abed  late  of  mornings.  Jus 
tinian's  Institutes  with  Vinnius's  Notes,  the 
works  of  Br acton,  Britton,  Fleta,  Glanville, 
and  all  the  other  ponderous  Latin  tomes  be 
hind  which  the  law  of  that  day  lay  intrenched, 
yielded  up  their  wisdom  to  his  persistency.  He 
had  his  hours  of  relaxation,  in  which  he  smoked 
his  pipe,  chatted  with  Dr.  Savil's  wife,  and  read 
her  Ovid's  "  Art  of  Love,"  a  singular  volume, 
truly,  for  a  young  Puritan  to  read  aloud  with 
a  lady !  Yet  in  the  main  he  was  a  hard  stu 
dent  ;  so  that  by  October,  1758,  he  was  ready  to 
begin  business,  and  came  to  Boston  to  consult 
with  Jeremiah  Gridley,  the  leader  and  "father" 
of  that  bar,  as  to  the  necessary  steps  "  for  an 
introduction  to  the  practice  of  law  in  this  coun 
try."  Gridley  was  very  kind  with  the  young 


18  JOHN  ADAMS. 

man,  who  seems  to  have  shown  upon  this  occa 
sion  a  real  and  becoming  bashfulness.  Among 
other  pieces  of  advice  the  shrewd  old  lawyer 
gave  to  the  youngster  these  two:  first,  uto  pur 
sue  the  study  of  the  law  rather  than  the  gain  of 
it ;  pursue  the  gain  of  it  enough  to  keep  out  of 
the  briars,  but  give  your  main  attention  to  the 
study  of  it ; "  second,  "  not  to  marry  early, 
for  an  early  marriage  will  obstruct  your  im 
provement,  and  in  the  next  place  it  will  involve 
you  in  expense."  On  Monday,  November  6, 
the  same  distinguished  friend,  with  a  few  words 
of  kindly  presentation,  recommended  Adams  to 
the  court  for  the  oath.  This  formality  being 
satisfactorily  concluded,  says  Adams,  "  I  shook 
hands  with  the  bar,  and  received  their  congrat 
ulations,  and  invited  them  over  to  Stone's  to 
drink  some  punch,  where  the  most  of  us  re 
sorted  and  had  a  very  cheerful  chat."  Through 
this  alcoholic  christening  the  neophyte  was  in 
troduced  into  the  full  communion  of  the  breth 
ren,  and  thereafter  it  only  remained  for  him  to 
secure  clients.  He  had  not  to  wait  quite  so 
long  for  these  trailing-footed  gentry  as  is  often 
the  wearisome  lot  of  young  lawyers  ;  for  the 
colonists  were  a  singularly  litigious  race,  suing 
out  writs  upon  provocations  which  in  these 
good-natured  days  would  hardly  be  thought  to 
justify  hard  words,  unconsciously  training  that 


AT  THE  BAR.  19 

contradictory  and  law-loving  temper  which 
really  went  far  to  bring  about  the  quarrels  with 
Parliament,  so  soon  to  occur.  Fees  were  small, 
mercifully  adapted  not  to  discourage  the  poor 
est  client,  so  that  the  man  who  could  not  afford 
"  to  take  the  law  "  might  as  well  at  on'ce  seek 
the  tranquil  shelter  of  the  "  town  farm."  Ac 
cordingly,  though  Adams  was  anxious  and  oc 
casionally  dispirited,  he  seems  to  have  done 
very  well. 

He  had  many  admirable  qualifications  for 
success,  of  which  by  no  means  the  least  was  his 
firm  resolution  to  succeed ;  for  throughout  his 
life  any  resolution  which  he  seriously  made  was 
pretty  sure  to  be  carried  through.  He  was,  of 
course,  honest,  trustworthy,  and  industrious ; 
he  exacted  of  himself  the  highest  degree  of 
care  and  skill ;  he  cultivated  as  well  as  he 
could  the  slender  stock  of  tact  with  which  na 
ture  had  scantily  endowed  him  ;  more  useful 
traits,  not  needing  cultivation,  were  a  stubborn 
ness  and  combativeness  which  made  him  a  hard 
man  to  beat  at  the  bar  as  afterwards  in  politi 
cal  life.  In  a  word,  he  was  sure  to  get  clients, 
and  soon  did  so.  He  followed  the  first  part  of 
Gridley's  advice  to  such  good  purpose  that  he 
afterwards  said  :  "  I  believe  no  lawyer  in  Amer 
ica  ever  did  so  much  business  as  I  did  after 
wards,  in  the  seventeen  years  that  I  passed  in 


20  JOHN  ADAMS. 

the  practice  at  the  bar,  for  so  little  profit." 
Yet  this  "  little  profit  "  was  enough  to  enable 
him  to  treat  more  lightly  Gridley's  second 
item,  for  on  October  25,  1764,  he  took  to  him 
self  a  wife'."  The  lady  was  Abigail  Smith, 
daughter  of  William  Smith,  a  clergyman  in  the 
neighboring  town  of  Weymouth,  and  of  his 
wife,  Elizabeth  (Quincy)  Smith.  But  the  mat 
rimonial  venture  was  far  from  proving  an 
"  obstruction  to  improvement ;  "  for  "  by  this 
marriage  John  Adams  became  allied  with  a  nu 
merous  connection  of  families,  among  the  most 
respectable  for  their  weight  and  influence  in 
the  province,  and  it  was  immediately  percep 
tible  in  the  considerable  increase  of  his  profes 
sional  practice."  In  other  respects,  also,  it  was 
a  singularly  happy  union.  Mrs.  Adams  was  a 
woman  of  unusually  fine  mind  and  noble  char 
acter,  and  proved  herself  a  most  able  helpmate 
and  congenial  comrade  for  her  husband  through 
out  the  many  severe  trials  as  well  as  in  the 
brilliant  triumphs  of  his  long  career.  Not  often 
does  fate  allot  to  a  great  man  a  domestic  part 
ner  so  fit  to  counsel  and  sustain  as  was  Abigail 
Adams,  whose  memory  deserves  to  be,  as  indeed 
it  still  is,  held  in  high  esteem  and  admiration. 

History  depicts  no  race  less  fitted  by  charac 
ter,  habits,  and  traditions  to  endure  oppression 


AT  THE  BAR.  21 

than  the  colonists  of  New  England.  Numeri 
cally  the  chief  proportion  of  them,  and  in  point 
of  influence  nearly  all  who  were  worthy  of 
consideration,  were  allied  with  the  men  who 
had  successfully  defied  and  overthrown  the 
British  monarchy.  The  surroundings  and  mode 
of  life  of  settlers  in  a  new  country  had  per 
mitted  no  deterioration  in  the  physical  courage  V 
and  hardihood  of  that  class  which,  in  Crom-  ' 
well's  army,  had  constituted  as  fine  a  body  of 
troops  as  the  world  has  seen  to  the  present  day. 
It  was  simply  impossible  to  affect  New  Eng- 
landers  through  the  sense  of  fear.  Far  removed 
from  the  sight  of  monarchical  power,  and  from 
contact  with  the  offensive  display  of  aristoc 
racy,  they  had  ceased  to  hate  this  form  of  gov 
ernment  and  even  entertained  feelings  of  loy 
alty  and  attachment  towards  it.  But  these 
sentiments  throve  only  upon  the  condition  of 
good  treatment ;  and  on  the  instant  when 
harshness  destroyed  the  sense  of  reciprocity  the 
good  will  of  the  dependent  body  disappeared. 
Even  while  the  rebellious  temper  slumbered, 
the  independent  spirit  had  been  nourished  by 
all  the  conditions  of  social,  intellectual,  even  of 
civil  life.  The  chief  officers  of  government 
had  been  sent  over  from  England,  and  some 
legislation  had  taken  place  in  Parliament ;  but 
the  smaller  laws  and  regulations,  which,  with 


22  JOHN  ADAMS. 

the  ministers  thereof,  touched  the  daily  lives 
and  affairs  of  the  people,  had  been  largely  es 
tablished  by  the  colonists  themselves.  They 
were  a  thinking  race,  intelligent,  disputatious, 
and  combative.  The  religion  which  absorbed 
much  of  their  mental  activity  had  cherished 
these  qualities ;  and  though  their  creed  was  nar 
row,  rigid,  and  severe,  yet  they  did  not  accept 
it  like  slaves  of  a  hierarchy,  without  thought 
and  criticism.  On  the  contrary,  their  theology 
was  notably  polemical,  and  discussion  and  dis 
pute  on  matters  of  doctrine  were  the  very  es 
sence  of  their  Christianity.  Their  faith  con 
stituted  a  sort  of  gymnasium  or  arena  for  the 
constant  matching  of  strength  and  skill.  They 
were  ready  at  every  sort  of  intellectual  combat. 
The  very  sternness  of  their  beliefs  was  the  ex 
ponent  of  their  uncompromising  spirit,  the  out 
growth  of  a  certain  fierceness  of  disposition,  and 
by  no  means  a  weight  or  pall  which  had  set 
tled  down  upon  their  faculties  of  free  thought. 
Men  with  such  bodies,  minds,  and  morals,  not 
slow  to  take  offense,  quick  to  find  arguments 
upon  their  own  side,  utterly  fearless,  and  of 
most  stubborn  mettle,  furnished  poor  material 
for  the  construction  of  a  subservient  class. 
Moreover,  they  were  shrewd,  practical  men  of 
business,  with  the  aptitude  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
for  affairs,  and  with  his  taste  for  money-getting, 


AT  THE  BAR.  23 

his  proneness  for  enterprise,  his  passion  for 
worldly  success ;  hence  they  were  very  sensi 
tive  to  any  obstacle  cast  in  the  way  of  their 
steady  progress  towards  material  prosperity. 
The  king  and  the  ruling  classes  of  Great  Brit 
ain  had  no  comprehension  whatsoever  of  all 
these  distinguishing  traits  of  the  singular  race 
with  whom  they  undertook  to  deal  upon  a  sys 
tem  fundamentally  wrong,  and  of  which  every 
development  and  detail  was  a  blunder. 

In  nearly  every  respect  John  Adams  was  a 
typical  New  Englander  of  the  times  ;  at  least 
it  may  be  said  that  in  no  one  individual  did  the 
colonial  character  find  a  more  respectable  or  a 
more  comprehensible  development  than  in  him, 
so  that  to  understand  and  appreciate  him  is  to 
understand  and  appreciate  the  New  England 
of  his  day  ;  and  to  draw  him  is  to  draw  the  col 
onists  in  their  best  form.  It  was  inevitable 
from  the  outset  that  he  should  be  a  patriot ;  if 
men  of  his  mind  and  temper  could  hesitate, 
there  could  be  no  material  out  of  which  to  con 
struct  a  "  liberty  party "  in  the  province.  At 
first,  of  course,  older  and  better  known  men 
took  the  lead,  and  he,  still  a  parvus  lulus,  was 
fain  to  follow  with  unequal  steps  the  vigorous 
strides  of  the  fiery  Otis,  and  of  that  earliest  of 
genuine  democrats,  Samuel  Adams.  But  the 
career  of  Otis  was  like  the  electric  flash  which 


24  JOHN  ADAMS. 

so  appropriately  slew  him,  brief,  brilliant,  start 
ling,  sinking  into  melancholy  darkness;  and 
John  Adams  pressed  steadily  forward,  first  to 
the  side  of  his  distinguished  cousin,  and  erelong 
in  advance  of  him. 

It  was  in  1761  that  Otis  delivered  his  daring 
and  famous  argument  against  the  writs  of  as 
sistance.  This  was  the  first  log  of  the  pile 
which  afterward  made  the  great  blaze  of  the 
Revolution.  John  Adams  had  the  good  for 
tune  to  hear  that  bold  and  stirring  speech,  and 
came  away  from  the  impressive  scene  all  aglow 
with  patriotic  ardor.  The  influence  of  such 
free  and  noble  eloquence  upon  the  young  man 
was  tremendous.  As  his  son  classically  puts  it: 
"  It  was  to  Mr.  Adams  like  the  oath  of  Ham- 
ilcar  administered  to  Hannibal."  He  took 
some  slight  notes  of  the  argument  at  the  time, 
and  in  his  old  age  he  proved  the  indelible  im 
pression  which  it  had  made  upon  him,  by  writ 
ing  out  the  vivid  story.  His  memoranda, 
though  involving  some  natural  inaccuracies, 
constitute  the  best  among  the  meagre  records 
of  this  important  event.  He  said  afterward 
that  at  this  scene  he  had  witnessed  the  birth  of 
American  Independence.  "  American  Inde 
pendence  was  then  and  there  born.  The  seeds 
of  patriots  and  heroes,  to  defend  the  non  sine 
diis  animosus  infans,  to  defend  the  vigorous 


AT  THE  BAR.  25 

youth,  were  then  and  there  sown.  Every  man 
of  an  immense,  crowded  audience  appeared  to 
me  to  go  away,  as  I  did,  ready  to  take  arms 
against  writs  of  assistance.  Then  and  there 
was  the  first  scene  of  the  first  act  of  opposition 
to  the  arbitrary  claims  of  Great  Britain.  Then 
and  there  the  child  Independence  was  born. 
In  fifteen  years,  i.  e.,  in  1776,  he  grew  up  to 
manhood  and  declared  himself  free."  Such  im 
passioned  language,  written  in  the  tranquillity 
of  extreme  age  nearly  three-score  years  after  the 
occurrence,  shows  what  feelings  were  aroused 
at  the  time.  The  seed  which  Otis  flung  into 
the  mind  of  this  youth  fell  upon  a  sufficiently 
warm  and  fertile  soil. 

In  this  initial  struggle  of  the  writs  of  assist 
ance  the  royal  government  obtained  a  nominal 
victory  in  the  affirmation  of  the  technical  legal 
ity  of  the  process  ;  but  the  colonists  enjoyed 
the  substance  of  success,  since  the  attempt  to 
issue  the  obnoxious  writ  was  not  repeated. 
The  troubled  waters,  not  being  soon  again  dis 
turbed,  recovered  their  usual  placidity  of  sur 
face,  but  the  strong  under-current  of  popular 
thought  and  temper  had  been  stimulated  not  in 
the  direction  of  loyalty.  From  the  day  of 
Otis's  argument  Adams,  for  his  part,  remained 
a  patriot  through  his  very  marrow.  Yet  he 
continued  to  give  close  attention  to  his  own 


26  JOHN  ADAMS. 

professional  business,  which  he  steadily  in 
creased.  Gradually  he  gained  that  repute  and 
standing  among  his  fellow  citizens  which  care 
ful  study,  sound  sense,  and  a  strong  character 
are  sure  in  time  to  secure.  He  held  from  time 
to  time  some  of  the  smaller  local  offices  which 
indicate  that  a  young  man  is  well  thought  of 
by  his  neighbors.  Such  was  his  position  when 
in  1Y65  the  Stamp  Act  set  the  province  in  a 
flame  and  launched  him,  altogether  unexpect 
edly,  upon  that  public  career  which  was  to  en 
dure  to  the  end  of  his  active  years.  This  mo 
mentous  piece  of  legislation  was  passed  in  Par 
liament  innocently  and  thoughtlessly  enough 
by  a  vote  of  294  to  49,  in  March,  1765.  It 
was  to  take  effect  on  November  1  of  the  same 
year.  But  the  simple-minded  indifference  of 
the  English  legislators  was  abundantly  offset 
by  the  rage  of  the  provincials.  The  tale  of  the 
revolt  is  too  familiar  to  be  repeated;  every 
child  knows  how  the  effigy  of  stamp-distribu 
tor  Oliver  was  first  hanged  and  then  burned  ; 
how  he  himself  was  compelled  by  the  zealous 
"Sons  of  Liberty"  to  resign  his  office;  how 
his  place  of  business  was  demolished ;  how  his 
house  and  the  houses  of  Hutchinson  and  of 
other  officials  were  sacked  by  the  mob.  These 
v. '  extravagant  doings  disgusted  Adams,  whose 
r  notions  of  resistance  were  widely  different.  In 


AT   THE  BAR.  27 

his  own  town  of  Brain  tree  he  took  the  lead  of  vy 
the  malcontents  ;  lie  drew  up  and  circulated  •  * 
for  signatures  a  petition  to  the  selectmen,  ask 
ing  for  a  town-meeting,  at  which  lie  presented 
a  draft  of  instructions  to  the  representative  of 
the  town  in  the  colonial  General  Court.  These, 
being  carried  unanimously,  were  "  published 
in  Draper's  paper,  and  .  .  .  adopted  by  forty 
otEeiTtbwns  of  the  province  as  instructions  to 
their  respective  representatives."  Adams  be 
came  ji  man  of  prominence. 

When  the  time  came  for  putting  the  new 
statute  in  operation,  divers  expedients  for  evad 
ing  it  were  resorted  to.  But  Chief  Justice 
Hutchinson  in  the  county  of  Suffolk  prevented 
the  opening  of  the  courts  there  and  the  trans 
action  of  business  without  stamps.  On  De 
cember  18  Adams  wrote  gloomily  :  — 

"  The  probate  office  is  shut,  the  custom  house  is 
shut,  the  courts  of  justice  are  shut,  and  all  business 
seems  at  a  stand.  ...  I  have  not  drawn  a  writ  since 
the  first  of  November.  .  .  .  This  long  interval  of  in 
dolence  and  idleness  will  make  a  large  chasm  in  my 
affairs,  if  it  should  not  reduce  me  to  distress  and  in 
capacitate  me  to  answer  the  demands  'upon  me.  .  .  . 
I  was  but  just  getting  into  my  gears,  just  getting 
under  sail,  and  an  embargo  is  laid  upon  the  ship. 
Thirty  years  of  my  life  are  passed  in  preparation  for 
business.  ...  I  have  groped  in  dark  obscurity  till 


28  JOHN  ADAMS. 

of  late,  and  had  but  just  become  known  and  gained  a 
small  degree  of  reputation  when  this  execrable  proj 
ect  was  set  on  foot  for  my  ruin  as  well  as  that  of 
America  in  general,  and  of  Great  Britain." 

Adams  was  not  alone  in  feeling  the  stress  of 
this  enforced  cessation  of  all  business.  On  the 
very  day  when  he  was  writing  these  grievous 
forebodings  a  town-meeting  was  holding  in  Bos 
ton,  at  which  a  memorial  was  adopted,  pray 
ing  the  governor  and  council  to  remove  the 
fatal  obstruction  out  of  the  way  of  the  daily 
occupations  of  the  people.  The  next  day  news 
came  to  Mr.  Adams  at  Braintree  that  he  had 
been  associated  with  the  venerable  Jeremiah 
Gridley  and  James  Otis  as  counsel  for  the  town 
to  support  this  memorial.  This  politico-pro 
fessional  honor,  which  was  the  greater  since  he 
was  not  a  citizen  of  Boston,  surprised  him  and 
caused  him  no  little  perturbation.  He  saw  in 
it  some  personal  peril,  and,  what  he  dreaded 
much  more,  a  sure  opposition  to  his  profes 
sional  advancement  on  the  part  of  the  govern 
ment  and  the  numerous  body  of  loyalists. 
Moreover,  he  distrusted  his  capacity  for  so  mo 
mentous  and  responsible  a  task.  But  there  is 
no  instance  in  Adams's  life  when  either  fear  of 
consequences  or  modesty  seriously  affected  his 
action.  Upon  this  occasion  he  did  not  hesitate 
an  instant.  "  I  am  now,"  he  at  once  declared, 


AT  THE  BAR.  29 

"imderjdl  obligations  of  interest  and  ambi 
tion,  as  well  as  honor,  gratitude,  and  duty,  to 
exert  the  utmost  of  my  abilities  in  this  impor 
tant  cause.  On  the  evening  of  the  very  next 
day,  with  no  possibility  for  preparation,  with 
few  hours  even  for  thought  or  consultation,  the 
three  lawyers  were  obliged  to  make  their  argu 
ments  before  the  governor  and  council.  Mr. 
Adams  had  to  speak  first.  "  Then  it  fell  upon 
me,  he  said,  "  without  one  moment's  oppor 
tunity  to  consult  any  authorities,  to  open  an 
argument  upon  a  question  that  was  never  made 
before,  and  I  wish  I  could  hope  it  never  would 
be  made  again,  that  is,  whether  the  courts  of 
law  should  be  open  or  not." 

John  Quincy  Adams  alleges,  not  without 
justice,  that  his  father  placed  the  demands  of 
the  colonists  upon  a  stronger,  as  well  as  upon 
a  more  daring  basis  than  did  either  of  his  col 
leagues.  "  Mr.  Otis  reasoned  with  great  learn 
ing  and  zeal  on  the  judges'  oaths,  etc.,  Mr. 
Gridley  on  the  great  inconveniences  that  would 
ensue  the  interruption  of  justice."  Mr.  Adams, 
though  advancing  also  points  of  expediency, 
"  grounded  his  argument  on  the  invalidity  of 
the  Stamp  Act,  it  not  being  in  any  sense  our 
Act,  having  never  consented  to  it."  This  was 
recognized  as  the  one  sufficient  and  unanswer 
able  statement  of  the  colonial  position  from 


30  JOHN  ADAMS. 

this  time  forth  to  the  day  of  Independence  — 
the  injustice  and  unlawfulness  of  legislation, 
especially  for  taxation,  over  persons  not  repre 
sented  in  the  legislature.  But  in  British  ears 
such  language  was  rebellious,  even  revolution 
ary. 

No  historian  has  conceived  or  described  the 
condition  of  affairs,  of  society,  of  temper  and 
feeling,  at  least  in  the  southern  part  of  this 
country,  at  the  time  of  the  Stamp  Act,  with 
anything  like  the  accuracy  and  vividness  which 
illuminate  the  closing  pages  of  "  The  Virgin 
ians."  With  a  moderation  happily  combined 
with  force,  and  with  a  frank  recognition  of  the 
way  he  would  have  been  struck  by  his  own  ar 
guments  had  he  listened  to  them  from  the 
other  side,  Thackeray  puts  into  the  mouth  of 
George  Warrington  the  English  justification  of 
English  policy.  It  may  be  admitted  that,  if 
Parliament  could  not  tax  the  colonists,  then 
there  was  the  case  of  a  government  which 
could  exact  no  revenue  from  its  subjects,  and 
which,  therefore,  could  only  take  with  thanks 
their  voluntary  contributions.  In  any  theory 
of  government  such  a  proposition  is  an  absurd 
ity.  It  may  further  be  admitted  that  English 
men  "  at  home  "  were  a  much  more  heavily 
taxed  community  than  there  was  any  endeavor 
to  make  the  expatriated  colonial  Englishmen. 


AT  THE  BAR.  31 

It  is  also  true  that  Great  Britain  acknowledged 
and  performed  reasonably  well  the  duties 
which  are  part  of  the  function  of  government. 
Against  these  weighty  arguments  there  was 
but  one  which  could  prevail,  and  that  was  the 
broad  and  fundamental  one  advanced  by  Mr. 
Adams ;  it  reached  deeper  than  any  of  the 
English  arguments,  it  came  before  them  and 
settled  the  controversy  before  one  could  get  to 
them.  Great  Britain  said  :  a  government  with 
out  a  power  of  taxation  is  an  impossible  ab 
surdity.  The  colonies  replied  with  a  still  ear> 
Her  fact :  but  taxation  cannot  be  exercised 
without  representation.  The  truth  at  the  very 
bottom  was  fortunately  the  American  truth ; 
and  this  Mr.  Adams  saw  clearly  and  said 
boldly,  so  that  the  "  liberty  party"  never  for 
got  the  exposition.  There  was  a  question 
which  he  did  not  shirk,  though  he  contem 
plated  it  with  something  like  a  shudder.  If 
there  could  be  no  government  without  taxation, 
and  no  taxation  without  representation,  and 
there  was  no  chance  that  representation  would 
be  conceded,  —  what  then  ?  Only  independ 
ence.  Such  a  chain  of  logic  was  enough  to 
make  so  thoughtful  a  man  as  Adams  very  se 
rious,  and  one  is  not  surprised  to  find  these 
brief,  pregnant  entries  in  his  diary :  — 

"  Sunday.     At  home  with  my  family,  thinking." 


32  JOHN  ADAMS. 

"  Christmas.  At  home,  thinking,  reading,  search 
ing,  concerning  taxation  without  consent." 

But  lie  never  had  any  doubt  of  the  sound 
ness  of  his  position.  He  reiterated  it  after 
wards  in  court  in  behalf  of  John  Hancock,  who 
was  suc'd  for  duties  on  a  cargo  of  madeira 
wine,  which  had  been  landed  at  night,  smug 
gler-fashion.  Adams,  as  counsel  for  the  de 
fendant,  impugned  the  statute  because  "  it  was 
made  without  our  consent.  My  client,  Mr. 
Hancock,  never  consented  to  it ;  lie  never  voted 
for  it  himself,  and  he  never  voted  for  any  man 
to  make  such  a  law  for  him."  This  cause,  by 
the  way,  gave  Adams  plenty  of  business  for 
one  winter,  since  the  government  lawyers 
seemed  "  determined  to  examine  the  whole 
town  as  witnesses."  It  was  finally  disposed  of 
in  a  manner  less  formal,  though  not  less  effec 
tive,  than  the  usual  docket-entry,  "  by  the  bat 
tle  of  Lexington." 

By  the  share  which  he  took  in  this  business 
of  the  Stamp  Act,  Adams  conclusively  cast  in 
his  lot  with  the  patriot  party,  and  thereafter 
stood  second  only  to  such  older  leaders  as  Otis, 
Samuel  Adams,  and  Hancock.  He  continued, 
however,  to  devote  himself  sedulously  to  his 
law  business,  accepting  only  the  not  very  oner 
ous  public  office  of  selectman  in  the  spring  of 
1766.  He  was  advised  to  apply  to  the  gov 


AT  THE  BAR. 

emor  for  the  position  of  justice  of  th^ peace, 
then  a  post  of  substantial  honor  and  value. 
But  he  refused  to  do  so,  because  he  feared  that 
a  "  great  fermentation  of  the  country  "  was  at 
hand,  and  he  had  no  fancy  for  hampering  him 
self  with  any  "  obligations  of  gratitude." 

Early  in  1768,  through  the  persuasion  of 
friends,  he  removed  to  Boston,  and  occupied  the 
"White  House,''  so  called,  in  Brattle  Square, 
taking  the  step,  however,  not  without  misgiv 
ings  on  the  score  of  his  health,  which  at  this 
time  was  not  good  and  gave  him  no  little  con 
cernment.  He  had  not  been  long  in  his  new 
quarters  when  his  friend,  Jonathan  Sewall,  at 
torney  general  of  the  province,  called  upon 
him  and,  with  many  nattering  words  as  to  his 
character  and  standing  at  the  bar,  offered  him 
the  post  of  advocate  general  in  the  court  of 
admiralty.  It  was  a  lucrative  office,  "  a  sure 
introduction  to  the  most  profitable  business  in 
the  province,  ...  a  first  step  in  the  ladder  of  X 
royal  favor  and  promotion."  Unquestionably 
the  proposal  was  insidious,  since  the  policy  of 
such  indirect  bribes  was  systematically  pursued 
at  this  juncture  by  Bernard  and  Hutchinson. 
But  Sewall  endeavored,  of  course,  to  gloss  over 
the  purport  of  his  errand  by  stating  that  he  was 
specially  instructed  by  the  governor  to  say  that 

there  was  no  design  to  interfere  with  Adams's 
3 


34  JOHN  ADAMS. 

well-known  political  sympathies.  Words,  how 
ever,  could  not  conceal  the  too  obvious  trap. 
Adams  was  prompt  and  positive  in  his  refusal. 
Sewall  declined  to  take  No  for  an  answer,  and 
returned  again  to  the  charge  a  few  weeks  later. 
But  he  gathered  nothing  by  his  persistence. 
It  was  time  lost  to  endeavor  to  mould  a  man 
whose  distinguishing  trait  was  a  supreme  stub 
bornness,  which  became  preeminently  invinci 
ble  upon  any  question  of  personal  independ 
ence. 

In  October,  1768,  the  two  regiments  which 
Hutchinson  had  advised  the  King's  ministers  to 
send  over  debarked  and  marched  through  Bos 
ton  town  "  with  muskets  charged,  bayonets 
fixed,  drums  beating,  fifes  playing,"  and  all  the 
circumstance  of  war  !  Overflowing  their  bar 
racks,  these  unwelcome  guests  took  possession 
of  the  town-house  and  other  public  buildings, 
and  by  their  cannon  commanded  the  state- 
house  and  court-house.  The  officers  certainly 
endeavored  to  maintain  a  conciliatory  bearing 
and  kept  the  troops  creditably  quiet  and  or 
derly.  But  it  was  impossible  to  give  an  ami 
able  complexion  to  a  military  occupation.  The 
townspeople  obstinately  regarded  the  red-coats 
as  triumphant  invaders,  and  hated,  and,  it  must 
be  confessed,  taunted  them  continually  as  such. 
The  odiousness  of  the  situation  was  especially 


AT  THE   BAR.  35 

forced  upon  Adams  by  the  daily  drill  of  a  regi 
ment  in  the  great  square  before  his  house.  But 
in  the  evening  the  "  Sons  of  Liberty  "  point 
edly  sought  to  cleanse  his  ears  from  the  offense 
of  the  British  military  music,  by  serenading 
beneath  his  windows.  Long  afterwards,  writ 
ing  of  this  time,  recalling  the  confidence  placed 
in  him  by  the  patriots  and  his  resolve  not  to 
disappoint  them,  Adams  said :  "  My  daily  re 
flections  for  two  years  at  the  sight  of  those 
soldiers  before  my  door  were  serious  enough. 
.  .  .  The  danger  I  was  in  appeared  in  full  view 
before  me  ;  and  I  very  deliberately  and  indeed 
very  solemnly  determined  at  all  events  to  ad 
here  to  my  principles  in  favor  of  my  native 
country,  which,  indeed,  was  all  the  country  I 
knew,  or  which  had  been  known  by  my  father, 
grandfather,  or  groat  -  grandfather."  Yet  he 
held  himself  in  prudent  restraint,  and  declined 
to  attend  or  speak  at  the  town  meetings. 
44  That  way  madness  lies,"  he  used  to  say,  with 
a  reference  to  the  sad  condition  of  Otis.  Yet 
he  was  destined  to  perform  a  singularly  trying 
task  in  connection  with  these  same  red-coats, 
in  spite  of  his  desire  to  stand  aloof  from  any 
public  appearance. 

It  was  a  mere  question  of  time  when  a  seri 
ous  collision  with  the  troops  should  take  place. 
It  came  at  last,  as  every  one  knows,  upon  the 


36  JOHN  ADAMS. 

memorable  evening  of  March  5,  1770,  in  the 
shape  of  the  famous  "  Boston  Massacre."  On 
that  fatal  day  a  crowd  of  the  disorderly  loafers 
and  boys  of  the  town,  with  their  natural  weap 
ons  of  sticks  and  stones,  so  threatened  and 
abused  the  solitary  sentry  pacing  upon  King 
Street  that  he  called  for  aid.  To  his  summons 
speedily  responded  Captain  Preston,  bringing 
six  more  soldiers.  The  force  of  the  civilian 
tormentors  also  received  large  accessions.  The 
mob,  pressing  angrily  upon  the  officer  and  his 
little  force,  so  far  alarmed  them  that  they  fired  a 
volley.  Each  musket  was  loaded  with  two  balls, 
and  each  ball  found  its  human  mark.  Five 
men  were  slain  outright ;  others  were  wounded. 
Forthwith  the  whole  regiment  turned  out  and 
formed  in  defensive  array  across  the  street  upon 
the  northerly  side  of  the  town-house.  Before 
it  a  great  and  unterrified  crowd  swelled  and 
raged.  An  awful  conflict  was  impending. 
Fortunately  Hutchinson  appeared  upon  the 
scene,  and  by  wise  words  checked  the  tumult 
at  its  present  stage.  He  promised  that  the 
officer  and  the  men  should  at  once  be  placed 
under  arrest  and  tried  for  murder.  The  peo 
ple,  with  the  native  respect  of  their  race  for 
law,  were  satisfied,  and  further  bloodshed  was 
averted.  During  the  night  Preston  and  the 
soldiers  were  arrested. 


AT   THE  BAR.  37 

The  very  next  morning,  the  heat  of  the  tur 
moil  still  seething,  there  came  into  Mr.  Adams's 
office  one  Forrest,  pleasantly  nick-named  the 
"  Irish  infant."  This  emissary  was  charged  to 
induce  Adams  to  act  as  counsel  for  the  accused, 
and  he  evidently  expected  to  find  his  task  dif 
ficult  of  accomplishment  ;  but  Adams  acceded 
to  the  request  as  soon  as  it  was  preferred,  mak 
ing  some  remarks  to  the  point  of  professional 
duty,  trite  and  commonplace  in  their  ethical 
aspect,  but  honorably  distinguished  in  that 
they  were  backed  by  instant  action  at  a  mo 
ment  of  grave  trial.  With  him  acted  Josiah 
Quincy,  junior,  then  a  young  man  lately  called 
to  the  bar.  It  was  no  welcome  duty  which 
professional  obligation  and  perhaps  still  higher 
sentiments  thus  thrust  upon  these  two  lawyers. 
It  has  been  suggested  that  the  choice  of  Mr. 
Adams,  especially,  was  due  to  the  astute  cow 
ardice  of  Hutchinson,  who  wished  first  to  hand 
icap  a  strong  patriot  by  rendering  him  an  ob 
ject  of  suspicion  among  the  less  reasonable  mal 
contents,  and  next,  in  case  of  being  ultimately 
compelled  to  pardon  the  accused  men,  to  in 
terpose  between  himself  and  an  angry  people 
the  character  and  influence  of  the  most  highly 
considered  lawyer  on  the  popular  side.  It 
may  well  be  supposed,  however,  that  Captain 
Preston,  on  trial  for  his  life  amid  strange  and 


38  JOHN  ADAMS, 

hostile  surroundings,  selected  his  counsel  with 
a  single  eye  to  his  own  interest.  Mr.  C.  F. 
Adams  regards  this  engagement  in  this  cause 
as  constituting  one  of  the  four  great  moral 
trials  and  triumphs  marking  his  grandfather's 
career.  Undoubtedly  it  was  so.  It  was  not 
only  that,  so  far  as  his  own  feelings  were  con 
cerned,  the  position  was  odious,  but  he  was 
called  upon  to  risk  losing  the  well-earned  con 
fidence  of  those  of  his  fellow  townsmen  with 
whom  he  was  in  profound  sympathy  in  matters 
of  momentous  importance;  to  imperil  a  repu 
tation  and  popularity  won  by  twelve  long  years 
of  honest  labor,  and  necessary  to  his  success 
and  even  to  his  livelihood.  It  is  difficult  to  ad 
mire  too  highly  the  spirit  which  saw  no  cause 
even  for  an  hour's  hesitation  in  the  sudden  de 
mand  for  such  sacrifices.  That  he  was  un 
questionably  right  is  now  so  evident  that  it  is 
hard  to  appreciate  that  he  could  have  incurred 
great  censure  and  peril  at  the  time.  Yet  this 
was  the  case.  The  cooler  and  more  intelligent 
patriots  could  be  counted  upon  to  appreciate 
the  case  justly,  and  in  time  also  a  large  propor 
tion  of  the  party  would  follow.  But  at  first 
there  was  a  great  clamor  of  rebuke  and  wrath. 
Even  Josiah  Quincy,  senior,  a  man  from  whom, 
if  from  any  one,  better  judgment  might  have 
been  anticipated,  wrote  to  his  son  a  letter  min- 


AT  THE  BAR,  39 

gled  of  incredulity,  indignation,  and  remon 
strance.  It  seems  ridiculous  to  find  that  long 
years  afterwards,  after  the  Revolution,  after 
Adams  had  signed  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence,  had  been  insulted  at  the  English 
Court,  and  had  served  as  vice-president  with 
Washington,  this  legal  service  of  his  was 
dragged  out  by  his  opponents  as  evidence  of  his 
subjection  to  British  influence  ;  yet  such  folly 
actually  occurred. 

The  trial  of  Preston  began  October  24,  and 
closed  October  30.  It  resulted  in  an  acquittal, 
since  it  was  of  course  impossible  to  adduce  sat 
isfactory  evidence  that  he  had  given  the  com 
mand  to  fire.  The  trial  of  the  soldiers  fol 
lowed,  which  a  short-hand  writer  endeavored 
to  report ;  but  he  failed  lamentably  in  catching 
the  tenor  of  the  counsel's  arguments.  Of  these 
defendants  all  were  acquitted  save  two,  who 
were  found  guilty  of  manslaughter.  They 
claimed  their  privilege  of  clergy,  and  so  saved 
their  lives  ;  but  were  branded  on  the  hand 
with  a  hot  iron,  a  disgrace  which  they  keenly 
felt  to  be  undeserved,  and  which  won  for  them 
the  honest  sympathy  of  Mr.  Adams.  It  may 
be  remarked  that  Adams  was  much  annoyed 
at  a  story,  to  which  a  sort  of  corroboration  was 
afterward  given  by  some  unfair  language  of 
Hutchinson  in  his  history,  that  his  motive  in 


40  JOHN  ADAMS. 

engaging  for  the  prisoners  came  in  the  shape 
of  a  large  fee.  In  fact,  his  entire  remunera 
tion  for  all  services  rendered  to  all  his  eight 
clients  was  only  nineteen  guineas,  which  were 
not  accompanied  or  followed  by  so  much  as 
even  a  courteous  word  of  thanks  from  Preston. 
But  he  had  the  comfort  of  appreciating  the 
character  of  his  own  conduct  at  least  as  well 
as  if  he  were  judging  the  behavior  of  another 
person.  He  said  of  it,  two  or  three  years  later : 
"  It  was  one  of  the  most  gallant,  manly,  and 
disinterested  actions  of  my  whole  life,  and  one 
of  the  best  pieces  of  service  I  ever  rendered  my 
country."  So  fairly  could  he  at  times  estimate 
himself  and  his  doings  ! 

One  gratification,  however,  was  his  besides 
the  mens  conscia  recti  and  the  paltry  guineas. 
After  his  acceptance  of  the  position  of  defend 
ant's  counsel  had  become  known,  and  before 
the  trial,  a  vacancy  occurred  in  the  representa 
tion  of  the  town  of  Boston  in  the  General 
Court.  Upon  June  3  Adams 'was  elected  to 
fill  this  place  by  the  handsome  vote  of  418  out 
of  a  total  of  536,  good  evidence  that  the  peo 
ple  had  come  to  their  senses  concerning  the 
true  character  of  his  action.  But  gratifying  as 
such  a  testimonial  of  popularity  was  at  the  mo 
ment,  when  he  had  staked  his  good  repute  upon 
a  question  of  principle,  yet  in  other  respects 


AT  THE  BAR.  41 

the  honor  was  less  welcome.  Heretofore  he 
had  carefully  abstained  from  entanglement  in 
public  affairs,  contenting  himself  with  a  bold 
profession  of  patriotic  sentiment,  and  shunning 
sedulously  that  active  share  which  he  was  often 
and  inevitably  urged  and  tempted  to  assume. 
He  had  devoted  himself  with  steady  and  almost 
exclusive  persistence  to  the  practice  of  his  pro 
fession,  recognizing  no  object  superior  to  that. 
Success  in  this  he  was  already  grasping. 
Twelve  years  he  had  been  in  practice,  and  now 
"  had  more  business  at  the  bar  than  any  man 
in  the  province."  He  felt  that  an  entry  upon 
a  public  career  would  rob  him  of  the  ripening 
harvest  of  his  years  of  toil,  that  it  would  expose 
him  to  anxiety,  complications,  and  personal 
danger,  and  his  family  perhaps  to  poverty. 
His  later  reminiscence  of  his  feelings  upon  ac 
cepting  this  office  is  impressively  pathetic :  — 

"  My  health  was  feeble.  I  was  throwing  away  as 
bright  prospects  as  any  man  ever  had  before  him, 
and  I  had  devoted  myself  to  endless  labor  and  anx 
iety,  if  not  to  infamy  and  to  death,  and  that  for  noth 
ing,  except  what  indeed  was  and  ought  to  be  in  all 
a  sense  of  duty.  In  the  evening  I  expressed  to  Mrs. 
Adams  all  my  apprehensions.  That  excellent  lady, 
who  has  always  encouraged  me,  burst  into  a  flood  of 
tears,  and  said  she  was  very  sensible  of  all  the  dan 
ger  to  her  and  to  our  children,  as  well  as  to  me,  but 


42  JOHN  ADAMS. 

she  thought  I  had  done  as  I  ought ;  she  was  very 
willing  to  share  in  all  that  was  to  come,  and  to  place 
her  trust  in  Providence." 

Thus  solemnly,  with  a  sense  of  costly  self- 
sacrifice  to  duty,  and  with  dark  presagings, 
Adams  consented  to  enter  upon  that  public 
career  which  in  the  inscrutable  future  proved 
to  be  laden  with  such  rich  rewards  for  his  noble 
courage,  and  such  brilliant  confutation  of  his 
melancholy  forebodings. 

This  first  incursion  into  the  domain  of  public 
life,  undertaken  in  so  grave  a  temper,  was  not 
of  long  duration.  Considering  the  hale  and 
prolonged  old  age  which  Mr.  Adams  came  to 
enjoy,  his  health  in  what  should  havexbeen  vig 
orous  years  seems  to  have  given  him  a  surpris 
ing  amount  of  solicitude.  So  now,  within  a 
few  months  after  his  election,  he  fell  into  such 
a  condition  with  "  a  pain  in  his  breast,  and  a 
complaint  in  his  lungs,  which  seriously  threat 
ened  his  life,"  that  he  felt  sure  that  city  life 
was  disagreeing  with  him.  Accordingly  in  the 
spring  of  1771,  just  three  years  after  coming 
to  town,  he  removed  his  household  back  to 
Braintree,  and  of  course  at  the  end  of  his  year 
of  service  he  could  not  again  be  returned  as  a 
member  from  Boston.  He  was  very  despond 
ent  at  this  time.  He  held  the  inhabitants  of 
Boston  in  "  the  most  pleasing  and  grateful  re- 


AT  THE  BAR.  43 

membrance."     He  said  :  "  I  wish  to  God  it  was 
in  my  power  to  serve  them,  as  much  as  it  is 
in  my  inclination.     But  it  is  not ;  my  wishes 
are  impotent,  my  endeavors  fruitless  and  inef 
fectual  to  them,  and  ruinous  to  myself."     He 
fell  occasionally  into  moods  of  melancholy  like 
this,  doubtless  by  reason  of  ill  health.     Prob 
ably  also  after  having  tasted  the  singular  fas-- 
ciiiation  of  active  concernment  in  public  affairs 
he  was  not  able  altogether  without  regret  to 
contemplate   his    apparent   future,    with    "no 
journeys  to  Cambridge,  no  General  Court  to 
attend,"  nothing   but  "  law   and   husbandry." 
He  had  come  to  be  a  man  of  some  note,  which 
is  always  pleasant,  whatever  disingenuous  pro 
fessions  prominent  men  may  sometimes  make. 
Already,  many  months  before,  when  stopping 
at  a  tavern  on  his  way  to  Plymouth,  he  was 
surprised  by  having  a  fellow-traveler,  unknown 
to  him,  go  out  to  saddle  and  bridle  his  horse 
and  hold   the   stirrup  for   him,  saying,   "  Mr. 
Adams,  as  a  man  of   liberty,  I  respect  you  ; 
God  bless  you  !  I  '11  stand  by  you  while  I  live, 
and  from  hence  to  Cape  Cod  you  won't  find  ten 
men  amiss."     Now  too,  upon  coming  to  Brain- 
tree,  the  representative  from   that  town,  who 
once  had  been  pleased  to  call  Mr.  Adams  "  a 
petty  lawyer,"  complimented  him  as  the  "  first 
lawyer  in  the  province,"  and  offered  to  stand 


44  JOHN  ADAMS. 

aside  if  Mr.  Adams  would  be  willing  to  repre 
sent  Braintree  in  the  General  Court.  One 
could  not  lightly  throw  away  such  prestige. 

From  the  farm  at  Braintree  he  rode  habit 
ually  to  his  office  in  Boston,  and  by  this  whole 
some  life  regained  his  good  health,  and  fortu 
nately  suffered  no  material  loss  in  the  popular 
estimation.  His  interest  in  colonial  affairs  con 
tinued  unabated.  He  set  down,  for  the  in 
struction  of  his  family,  "  if  this  wretched  jour 
nal  should  ever  be  read  "  by  them,  that  he  was 
the  unwavering  enemy  of  Hutchinson  and  of 
Hutchinson's  system,  and  he  predicted  that  the 
governor  had  inaugurated  a  contention,  which 
would  "  never  be  fully  terminated  but  by  wars 
and  confusions  and  carnage."  "  With  great 
anxiety  and  hazard,  with  continual  application 
to  business,  with  loss  of  health,  reputation, 
profit,  and  as  fair  prospects  and  opportunities 
of  advancement  as  others,  who  have  greedily 
embraced  them,  I  have  for  ten  years  together 
invariably  opposed  this  system  and  its  fautors." 
So  Pym  or  Hampden  might  have  spoken  con 
cerning  Straff ord.  But  now  there  came  one  of 
those  lulls  in  the  political  storm,  when  sanguine 
people  sometimes  think  that  it  has  spent  its 
force  and  is  to  give  way  to  fairer  days.  Adams 
beheld  this  with  some  bewilderment  and  re 
gret,  but  with  constancy  of  spirit.  "  The  me* 


AT  THE  BAR.  45 

lodious  harmony,  the  perfect  concords,  the  en 
tire  confidence  and  affection  that  seem  to  be 
restored,  greatly  surprise  me.  Will  it  be  last 
ing  ?  I  believe  there  is  no  man  in  so  curious  a 
situation  as  I  am  ;  I  am,  for  what  I  can  see, 
quite  left  alone  in  the  world."  He  had  not, 
however,  to  wait  long  before  the  tranquillity 
passed,  the  gales  were  blowing  anew  more 
fiercely  than  ever,  and  the  old  comrades  were 
all  in  company  again. 

In  truth,  it  was  ridiculous  for  Mr.  Adams  to 
fancy  that  he  could  remain  permanently  a  vil 
lager  of  Braintree,  a  long  hour's  journey  from 
Boston.  That  redoubtable  young  town,  though 
for  a  while  it  was  making  such  a  commotion  in 
the  world,  had  only  about  16,000  inhabitants, 
and  it  could  not  have  been  sufficiently  metro 
politan  to  justify  Mr.  Adams  in  fleeing  from 
its  crowds  into  the  wholesome  solitudes  of  the 
country.  It  was  a  morbid  notion  on  his  part. 
By  the  autumn  of  1772  he  came  to  this  con 
clusion,  and  found  his  health  so  reestablished 
that  he  not  only  moved  back  to  town  but  ac 
tually  bought  a  house  in  Queen  Street,  near 
the  court  house.  He,  however,  registered  a 
pledge  to  himself  "  to  meddle  not  with  public 
affairs  of  town  or  province.  I  am  determined 
my  own  life  and  the  welfare  of  my  whole  fam 
ily,  which  is  much  dearer  to  me,  are  too  great 


46  JOHN  ADAMS. 

sacrifices  for  me  to  make.  I  have  served  my 
country  and  her  professed  friends,  at  an  im 
mense  expense  to  me  of  time,  peace,  health, 
money,  and  preferment,  both  of  which  last  have 
courted  my  acceptance  and  been  inexorably  re 
fused,  lest  I  should  be  laid  under  a  temptation 
to  forsake  the  sentiments  of  the  friends  of  this 
country.  ...  I  will  devote  myself  wholly  to 
my  private  business,  my  office  and  my  farm, 
and  I  hope  to  lay  a  foundation  for  better  for 
tune  to  my  children  and  a  happier  life  than 
has  fallen  to  my  share."  Yet  these  sentiments, 
which  he  seems  not  to  have  kept  to  himself, 
brought  upon  him  some  harsh  criticism.  James 
Otis,  the  fiery  zealot,  one  day  sneeringly  said 
to  him,  with  a  blimtness  which  sounds  some 
what  startling  in  our  more  cautious  day,  that 
he  would  never  learn  military  exercises  because 
he  had  not  the  heart.  "  How  do  you  know  ?  " 
replied  Adams.  "  You  never  searched  my 
heart."  "  Yes,  I  have,"  retorted  Otis  ;  "  tired 
with  one  year's  service,  dancing  from  Boston  to 
Braintree  and  from  Braintree  to  Boston ;  mop 
ing  about  the  streets  of  this  town  as  hypped  as 
Father  Flynt  at  ninety,  and  seemingly  regard 
less  of  everything  but  to  get  money  enough  to 
carry  you  smoothly  through  this  world."  This 
was  the  other  side  of  the  shield  from  that  upon 
which  Mr.  Adams  was  wont  to  look,  and  which 


AT  THE  BAR.  47 

has  been  shown  in  the  sundry  communings 
cited  from  his  diary  concerning  his  sacrifices. 
Otis  was  impetuous  and  extravagant  of  tongue, 
and  probably  his  picture  was  the  less  fair  of 
the  two.  Yet  truly  Mr.  Adams  appears  a  little 
absurd  in  putting  on  the  airs  and  claiming  the 
privileges  of  "  an  infirm  man,"  as  he  calls  him 
self,  at  the  age  of  thirty-seven.  But  at  times 
he  could  give  way  to  patriotic  outbursts  such 
as  would  not  have  misbecome  even  the  pungent 
and  reckless  Otis  himself.  One  evening  at  Mr. 
Cranch's  "  I  said,  there  was  no  more  justice 
left  in  Britain  than  there  was  in  "hell ;  that  I 
wished  for  war,  and  that  the  whole  Bourbon 
family  was  upon  the  back  of  Great  Britain  ; 
avowed  a  thorough  disaffection  to  that  country ; 
wished  that  anything  might  happen  to  them, 
and,  as  the  clergy  prayed  of  our  enemies  in 
time  of  war,  that  they  might  be  brought  to 
reason  or  to  ruin."  Yet  he  was  afterward  pen 
itent  for  this  language,  and  took  himself  to 
task  "with  severity,  for  these  rash,  inexperi 
enced,  boyish,  raw,  and  awkward  expressions. 
A  man  who  has  no  better  government  of  his 
tongue,  no  more  command  of  his  temper,  is  un 
fit  for  everything  but  children's  play  and  the 
company  of  boys,"  etc.,  etc. 

In  justice  to  Mr.  Adams  it  should  be  said 
that,  so  far  as  any  records  show,  he  had  not 


48  JOHN  ADAMS. 

often  to  blame  himself  in  this  manner ;  habit 
ually  he  was  not  less  moderate  than  firm  and 
courageous.  One  is  greatly  struck  with  the 
change  of  tone  which  insensibly  steals  over  the 
diary  as  the  young  man,  at  first  having  only 
himself  to  care  for,  develops  into  the  man  of  ma 
ture  years  with  the  weighty  and  difficult  inter 
ests  of  the  province  at  heart.  The  tendency  to 
selfishness  and  narrow  egotism,  the  heartburn 
ings,  jealousies,  suspicions,  carpings,  and  harsh 
criticisms,  which  do  not  give  a  very  amiable  im 
pression  of  the  youth,  all  disappear  as  the  times 
change.  A  loftier  elevation  and  finer  atmos- 

o 

phere  are  insensibly  reached.  A  grave,  reso 
lute,  anxious  air  pervades  the  pages;  a  trust 
and  sense  of  comradeship  towards  fellow  pa 
triots  ;  almost  as  much  of  regret  as  of  rancor 
towards  many  of  those  who  should  be  standing 
by  the  province  but  are  not ;  hostility  of  course, 
but  a  singular  absence  of  personal  abuse  and 
acrimony,  even  towards  such  men  as  Hutchin- 
son.  No  unmeasured  rage,  no  flames  of  anger 
and  ill-considered  words,  but  an  immutable 
conviction  and  a  stubborn  determination  are 
characteristics  which  he  shares  with  the  great 
bulk  of  the  "  liberty  party."  There  is  no 
excitement  exhausting  itself  with  the  efferves 
cence  of  its  own  passion,  there  are  no  protesta 
tions  too  extravagant  to  be  fulfilled ;  the  exte- 


AT   THE  BAR.  49 

rior  is  all  coolness,  and  persistence ;  the  heat 
glows  fiercely  far  inside.  Thus  one  clearly 
reads  in  Mr.  Adams's  diary  the  temper  of  his 
coadjutors  and  of  the  times;  and  if  the  same 
perusal  could  have  been  had  in  England,  it  is 
barely  possibly  that  events  might  have  been 
different.  Cromwell  and  the  Puritans  were 
not  in  so  remote  a  past  that  the  royal  gov 
ernment  could  be  justified  in  an  utter  failure 
to  appreciate  the  moral  and  mental  traits  of 
the  people  of  New  England,  if  only  those  traits 
could  once  be  got  beneath  the  eyes  of  the  king 
and  cabinet.  But  Adams's  diary  was  for  him 
self  alone. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  FIRST   CONGRESS. 

IT  has  been  seen  that  nearly  three  years  be 
fore  the  time  at  which  we  have  now  arrived 
Mr.  Adams  had  experienced  no  small  solicitude 
and  misgivings  when  summoned  to  take  a  part 
in  public  life.  He  had  soon  escaped  from  func 
tions  which  were  really  distasteful  to  him,  and 
had  gladly  resumed  the  practice  of  his  profes 
sion  and  that  care  for  his  private  interests 
which  naturally  lay  close  to  the  heart  of  a 
shrewd  and  prudent  man,  bred  in  the  practical 
and  business-like  atmosphere  of  the  New  Eng 
land  of  those  days,  and  having  a  wife  and  chil 
dren  to  support.  Hitherto  he  has  been  seen 
holding  aloof  so  far  as  possible  from  any  promi 
nent  and  active  share  in  the  disturbed  and  ex 
citing,  but  certainly  also  the  perilous  politics  of 
the  times.  Even  within  a  few  weeks  of  the 
event  which  was  to  make  his  career  perma 
nently  and  irrevocably  that  of  the  public  man, 
he  writes  to  a  friend  that  he  can  send  no  inter 
esting  news,  because  "  I  have  very  little  con- 


THE  FIRST  CONGRESS.  51 

nection  with  public  affairs,  and  I  hope  to  have 
less."  Nevertheless  it  is  perfectly  obvious  that 
if  the  services  of  men  having  his  qualities  of 
mind  and  character  could  not  be  commanded 
by  the  patriots,  then  the  sooner  submission  was 
made  to  Great  Britain  the  better.  At  the 
ripe  age  of  thirty-eight,  well  read  in  private 
and  in  public  law,  of  a  temperament  happily 
combining  prudence  and  boldness,  notably  trust 
worthy,  active,  and  energetic,  standing  already 
in  the  front  rank  of  his  profession  if  not  ac 
tually  at  its  head  in  the  province,  it  was  inev 
itable  that  he  should  be  compelled  to  assume 
important  and  responsible  duties  in  the  mo 
mentous  contest  so  rapidly  developing.  His 
reluctance  was  not  of  the  mouth  only,  not  the 
pretended  holding  back  of  a  man  who  never 
theless  desired  to  be  driven  forward  ;  he  was 
sincere  in  his  shrinking  from  a  prominent  po 
sition,  yet  he  could  surely  be  counted  upon 
ultimately  to  take  it,  because  refusal  would 
have  been  contrary  to  his  nature. 

It  was  apparently  in  March^  1774,  that  Mr. 
Adams  was  contemplating  a  project  somewhat 
amusing  in  view  of  the  near  future.  "  Have  I 
patience  and  industry  enough,"  he  says,  "to 
write  a  history  of  the  contest  between  Britain 
and  America  ?  It  would  be  proper  to  begin," 
etc.  Comical  enough  was  this  proposition  for 


52  JOHN  ADAMS. 

writing  an  historical  narrative,  before  the  ma 
terial  even  for  the  introductory  chapter  had 
been  completed. 

A  few  days  later  he  gives  to  James  Warren 
his  opinion :  "  that  there  is  not  spirit  enough 
on  either  side  to  bring  the  question  to  a  com 
plete  decision,  and  that  we  shall  oscillate  like 
a  pendulum,  and  fluctuate  like  the  ocean,  for 
many  years  to  come,  and  never  obtain  a  com 
plete  redress  of  American  grievances,  nor  sub 
mit  to  an  absolute  establishment  of  parliament 
ary  authority,  but  be  trimming  between  both,  as 
we  have  been  for  ten  years  past,  for  more  years 
to  come  than  you  and  I  shall  live.  Our  chil 
dren  may  see  revolutions,"  etc.,  etc.  Evidently 
he  was  not  well  pleased  at  these  predictions, 
which  his  despondent  judgment  forced  from 
him.  But  the  "  revolutions,"  so  much  more  to 
his  taste  than  the  "trimming,"  were  already  at 
hand.  Less  than  three  months  later,  on  June 
17,  the  provincial  assembly  was  sitting  with 
closed  doors ;  the  secretary  of  the  governor, 
with  a  message  for  their  dissolution  in  his 
hand,  was  knocking  in  vain  for  admittance, 
while  the  members  were  hastily  choosing  five 
persons  to  represent  Massachusetts  at  a  meet 
ing  of  committees  from  the  several  colonies  to 
be  Ijeld  at  Philadelphia  on  September  1.  One 
hundred  and  seventeen  members  voteH  "  aye," 


THE  FIRST  CONGRESS.      V        >         53 

' 


^> 

'"' 


twelve  voted  "  no  ;  "  the  doors   were  , 


and  the  "  last  provincial  assembly 
acted  under  the  royal  authority  in  Massachu 
setts  "  was  at  an  end.  The  five  representatives 
to  the  first  Congress  of  North  America  were  : 
James  Bowdoin,  Thomas  Gushing,  Samuel 
Adams,  John  Adams,  and  Robert  Treat  Paine. 
~Jt-so-  happened  that  at  the  very  hour  when  this 
nomination  was  making,  John  Adams  was  pre 
siding  at  Faneuil  Hall  over  a  meeting  of  citi 
zens  engaged  in  considering  what  measures 
should  be  taken  concerning  the  recent  acts  of 
Parliament  for  the  destruction  of  the  commerce 
of  the  town. 

The  first  glimpse  of  Mr.  Adams's  feeling  at 
this  juncture  comes  in  a  few  hurried,  disjointed 
sentences,  written  in  his  diary  three  days  later  ; 
he  is  "  in  Danvers,  bound  to  Ipswich,"  still  at 
tending  closely  to  his  law  business,  starting  on 
the  Eastern  circuit.  He  says  :  — 

"  There  is  a  new  and  grand  scene  open  before 
me  :  a_  Congress.  This  will  be  an  assembly  of  the 
wisest  men  upon  the  continent,  who  are  Americans 
in  principle,  that  is,  against  the  taxation  of  Ameri 
cans  by  authority  of  Parliament.  I  feel  myself  un 
equal  to  this  business.  A  more  extensive  knowledge 
of  the  realm,  the  colonies,  and  of  commerce,  as  well 
as  of  law  and  policy,  is  necessary,  than  I  am  master 
of.  What  can  be  done  ?  Will  it  be  expedient  to 


54  JOHN  ADAMS. 

propose  an  annual  Congress  of  Committees  ?  to  peti 
tion  ?  Will  it  do  to  petition  at  all  ?  —  to  the  King  ? 
to  the  Lords  ?  to  the  Commons  ?  What  will  such 
consultations  avail  ?  Deliberations  alone  will  not  do. 
We  must  petition,  or  recommend  to  the  Assemblies 
to  petition,  or  —  " 

The  alternative  to  be  introduced  by  this  "  or" 
gives  him  pause;  it  is  too  terrible,  doubtless 
also  as  yet  too  little  considered  in  all  its  vague, 
vast,  and  multiform  possibilities,  to  be  defi 
nitely  shaped  in  words  even  on  these  secret 
pages.  He  will  not  be  run  away  with  by  a 
hasty  pen,  though  his  only  reader  is  himself. 
Five  days  later  he  comes  back  from  "  a  long 
walk  through  .  .  .  corn,  rye,  grass,"  and 
writes :  — 

"  I  wander  alone  and  ponder.  I  muse,  I  mope,  I 
ruminate.  '.I  am  often  in  reveries  and  brown  studies. 
The  objects  before  me  are  too  grand  and  multifari 
ous  for  my  comprehension.  We  have  not  men  fit 
for  the  times.  We  are  deficient  in  genius,  in  educa 
tion,  in  travel,  in  fortune,  in  everything.  I  feel  un 
utterable  anxiety.  God  grant  us  wisdom  and  forti 
tude  !  Should  the  opposition  be  suppressed,  should 
this  country  submit,  what  infamy  and  ruin !  God 
forbid !  Death  in  any  form  is  less  terrible." 

On  June  25  he  writes  to  his  friend  Warren, 
who  had  been  instrumental  in  appointing  him 
to  Congress :  — 


THE  FIRST  CONGRESS.  55 

"  I  suppose  you  sent  me  there  to  school.  I  thank 
you  for  thinking  me  an  apt  scholar,  or  capable  of 
learning.  For  my  own  part  I  am  at  a  loss,  totally 
at  a  loss,  what  to  do  when  we  get  there  ;  but  I  hope 
to  be  there  taught.  It  is  to  be  a  school  of  political 
prophets,  I  suppose,  a  nursery  of  American  states 
men." 

Mr.  Adams  estimated  with  much  candor  and 
fairness  the  deficiencies  which  he  recognized  as 
likely  to  stand  in  the  way  of  his  usefulness  and 
success  in  Congress.  But  in  speaking  of  his 
qualifications  he  did  not  mention,  and  doubt 
less  did  not  at  all  appreciate,  one  fact  which 
told  largely  in  his  favor.  In  our  day  men  ha 
bitually  go  to  Congress  with  only  such  crude 
training  in  the  oral  discussion  of  public  ques 
tions  as  they  have  gained  in  the  juvenile  de 
bating  societies  of  school  or  college,  or  possi 
bly  through  an  occasional  appearance  "  011  the 
stump."  But  Adams  had  enjoyed  the  advan 
tage  of  a  peculiar  and  singularly  admirable 
schooling,  and  it  was  only  because  this  had 
been  a  matter  of  course  in  his  life  ever  since 
he  had  come  of  age,  that  he  failed  now  to  set 
it  down  at  its  true  value.  He  had  been  accus 
tomed  always  to  take  an  active  part  in  the 
town -meetings,  that  old  institution  of  New 
England,  than  which  nothing  finer  as  a  prepar 
atory  school  of  debate  has  ever  existed  in  the 


56  JOHN  ADAMS. 

world.  In  these  assemblages,  at  which  nearly 
all  the  voters  of  the  town  were  present,  every 
public  question  was  discussed  with  that  ardor 
which  the  near  personal  interest  of  the  speak 
ers  can  alone  supply.  There  was  no  indiffer 
ence.  Every  one  made  it  a  point  to  be  present, 
and  the  concourse  was  a  more  striking  one  than 
many  more  pretentious  and  dignified  gather 
ings.  The  colonists  were  a  disputatious,  shrewd, 
and  hard-headed  race.  When  they  met  to  ar 
range  all  those  matters  of  domestic  polity, 
which  by  virtue  of  their  nearness  seemed  much 
more  important  than  grander  but  more  distant 
and  abstract  questions,  there  was  no  lack  of 
earnestness  or  of  keen  ability  in  their  debates. 
Men  learned  the  essential  elements  of  vigorous 
and  able  discussion.  They  did  not  perhaps  learn 
all  the  intricacies  of  parliamentary  tactics,  but 
they  did  acquire  a  good  deal  of  skill  in  the  way 
of  observation  and  of  management.  It  was 
a  democratic  political  body,1  wherein  perfect 
equality  prevailed  so  far  as  privilege  or  the  dis 
tinction  of  the  individual  were  concerned,  but 
where  the  inequality  arising  from  difference  in 

i  Gordon,  iu  his  History  of  Independence,  says :  "  Every 
town  is  an  incorporated  republic ;  "  and  Mr.  Hosmer,  in  an 
admirable  pamphlet  lately  published  upon  this  subject,  calls 
the  town-meeting  the  "  proper  primordial  cell  of  a  republican 
body  politic,"  and  says  that  it  existed  "  in  well-developed  form 
only  in  New  England." 


THE  FIRST  CONGRESS.  57 

natural  ability  counted  for  all  that  it  was  worth. 
In  such  conflicts  every  man  learned  to  strike 
with  all  the  skill  and  strength  that  he  could 
master,  and  learned  also  to  take  as  good  and 
often  better  than  he  could  give  back.  Behind 
it  all  lay  the  fundamental  Anglo-Saxon  feeling 
of  respect  for  law  and  order,  for  common  sense 
and  the  sounder  reason.  It  was  generally  the 
stronger  argument  which  prevailed.  It  was  to 
the  judgment,  not  to  the  emotions  that  appeal 
had  to  be  made  in  bodies  composed  of  such  ma 
terial.  A  throng  of  Yankee  farmers  or  mer 
chants  listening  to  a  speaker  for  the  purpose  of 
detecting  the  weak  points  in  his  speech  com 
pelled  the  ablest  and  the  coolest  man  to  do  his 
best.  No  one  could  afford  to  lose  either  his 
temper  or  his  head.  Service  in  such  tourna 
ments,  though  the  contests  were  not  of  national 
moment,  very  soon  made  veterans  of  the  active 
participants.  Courage,  independence,  self-con 
trol,  thoroughness,  readiness,  were  soon  acquired 
amid  the  rough  but  strong  and  honest  handling 
of  such  encounters.  From  these  fields  Adams 
came  to  one  more  conspicuous,  with  his  mental 
sinews  more  toughened  and  more  active  than 
could  have  been  expected  by  any  one  who  had 
not  witnessed  the  scenes  of  the  rude  arena.  He 
had  learned  how  to  prepare  himself  for  an  ar 
gument  and  to  study  a  question  which  was  to 


58  JOHN  ADAMS. 

be  discussed,  how  to  put  his  points  with  clear 
ness,  force,  and  brevity ;  he  was  at  home  in  ad 
dressing  a  body  of  hearers  ;  he  was  not  discom 
posed  by  attacks,  however  vigorous ;  he  could 
hold  his  position  or  assail  the  position  of  an 
opponent  with  perfect  coolness  and  dangerous 
tenacity ;  he  had  learned  self-confidence  and  to 
fear  no  man,  though  by  the  fortunes  of  war  he 
must  sometimes  be  defeated.  Altogether^  he 
was  much  better  fitted  for  parliamentary  labors 
than  lie  himself  suspected. 

From  this  period  of  his  life  for  nearly  thirty 
years  Mr.  Adams  continued  to  expand  in  popu 
lar  estimation,  unfortunately  also  in  his  own 
estimation,  through  constantly  enlarging  meas 
ures  of  greatness.  But  at  no  time  does  he  ap 
pear  to  the  student  of  his  character  so  noble, 
so  admirable,  or  so  attractive  as  during  two  or 
three  years  about  this  time.  The  entries  in 
the  diary  are  brief  and  often  made  at  provok- 
ingly  long  intervals  ;  nor  do  very  many  letters 
remain.  Yet  there  are  dashes  of  strong  color 
sufficient  to  give  a  singularly  vivid  picture  of 
his  state  of  mind  and  feeling.  There  is  a  pro 
found  consciousness  of  being  in  the  presence 
of  great  events,  of  living  in  momentous  and 
pregnant  times.  This  develops  him  grandly. 
Before  the  immensity  of  the  crisis  all  thoughts 
of  self,  all  personal  rivalries,  even  political 


THE  FIRST  CONGRESS.  59 

enmities,  disappear.  There  is  perceptible 
scarcely  any  trace  of  that  unfortunate  vanity 
and  egotism  which  so  marred  his  aspect  when 
time  had  taught  him  that  he  was  really  a  great 
man.  At  present  he  does  not  know  that  he  is 
great ;  he  is  simply  one  meaning  to  do  his  best, 
and  harassed  with  a  genuine,  modest  doubt  how 
good  that  best  will  be.  Amid  the  surround 
ings  his  new  duties  impress  him  with  a  sense 
of  awe.  Who  is  he  to  take  counsel  for  his 
fellow  citizens,  he  who  has  only  studied  the 
few  books  which  he  has  been  able  to  afford  to 
import  from  England,  who  has  never  seen  a 
town  with  more  than  sixteen  thousand  inhab 
itants,  nor  ever  had  any  experience  whatsoever 
of  statecraft,  who  gathers  only  by  hearsay  his 
ideas  concerning  the  power  and  resources  of 
England,  the  temper  of  her  rulers  and  her  peo 
ple,  and  who  really  has  scarcely  more  knowl 
edge  of  any  province  south  of  Massachusetts? 
How  can  he  weigh,  and  compare,  and  judge 
wisely?  Yet  he  has  at  least  the  wisdom  to 
measure  his  own  exceeding  ignorance,  and  ob 
viously  he  will  commit  no  such  rash  blunders 
as  those  into  which  he  will  by  and  by  be  led 
by  the  over-weening  self-confidence  of  later 
years.  Now  he  will  ponder  and  reflect,  and 
will  act  prudently  and  moderately ;  for  he  feels 
most  gravely  his  immense  responsibility.  But 


60  JOHN  ADAMS. 

though  he  feels  this,  it  does  not  make  a  coward 
of  him ;  the  courage  and  the  spirit  of  John 
Adams  were  the  same  from  the  cradle  to  the 
grave.  There  is  not  a  shadow  of  timidity ; 
modesty  and  self-distrust  do  not  take  that 
shape  nor  betray  him  into  irresolution.  In 
every  line  that  he  writes  the  firm  and  manly 
temper  is  distinctly  seen.  If  he  will  be  anx 
ious,  so  also  he  will  be  bold  and  will  fear  no 
consequences  either  for  his  country  or  for  him 
self.  His  nerve  is  good ;  he  is  profoundly 
thoughtful,  but  not  in  the  least  agitated.  His 
own  affairs  must  give  him  some  thought,  but 
not  for  himself,  only  for  his  family.  He  does 
not  say  this;  if  he  did,  the  fact  might  be 
less  sure ;  but  his  letters,  clear,  brief,  blunt, 
straightforward,  written  often  in  haste  and 
always  with  unquestionable  simplicity  and 
frankness,  leave  no  doubt  concerning  his  gen 
erous  courage  in  all  matters  of  his  private  in 
terests.  The  only  direct  recognition  of  his 
personal  risk  is  in  a  passage  of  a  letter  to 
James  Warren :  — 

"  There  is  one  ugly  reflection.  Brutus  and  Cas- 
sius  were  conquered  and  slain,  Hampden  died  in  the 
field,  Sidney  on  the  scaffold,  Harrington  in  jail,  etc. 
This  is  cold  comfort.  Politics  are  an  ordeal  path 
among  red-hot  ploughshares.  Who  then  would  be  a 
politician  for  the  pleasure  of  running  about  barefoot 
among  them  ?  Yet  somebody  must." 


THE  FIRST  CONGRESS.  61 

After  he  had  been  a  short  while  in  Congress 
he  writes  reassuringly  to  his  wife :  — 

"  Be  not  under  any  concern  for  me.  There  is  lit 
tle  danger  from  anything  we  shall  do  at  the  Congress. 
There  is  such  a  spirit  through  the  colonies,  and  the 
members  of  Congress  are  such  characters,  that  no 
danger  can  happen  to  us,  which  will  not  involve  the 
whole  continent  in  universal  desolation ;  and  in  that 
case,  who  would  wish  to  live  ?  " 

He  was  willing  to  take  his  turn  and  to  do 
his  sEafe ;  but  he  insisted  that  after  he  had 
contributed  his  fair  proportion  of  toil  and  sac 
rifice,  and  had  assumed  his  just  measure  of 
peril,  others  should  come  forward  to  succeed 
him  and  play  their  parts  also.  In  truth,  at  this 
crisis  a  prominent  public  position  did  not  hold 
out  those  lures  to  ambition  which  exist  in  es 
tablished  governments ;  there  were  no  appar 
ent  prizes  of  glory,  power,  or  prosperity ;  there 
were  alarming  visible  chances  of  utter  destruc 
tion.  The  self-seeking  and  aspiring  class  saw 
meagre  temptations.  So  Adams  may  be  rigidly 
believed  when  he  writes :  — 

"  To  say  the  truth,  I  was  much  averse  to  being 
chosen,  and  shall  continue  so ;  for  I  am  determined, 
if  things  are  settled,  to  avoid  public  life.  ...  At 

such  a  time  as  this  there  are  many  dangerous  things 
to  be  done,  which  nobody  else  will  do,  and  therefore 


62  JOHN  ADAMS. 

I    cannot   help    attempting    thorn  ;    but    ID    peaceful 
times  there  are  always  hands  enough,  ready." 

The  letters  of  Adams  to  his  wife  from  the 
time  of  his  appointment  to  Congress  are  de 
lightful  reading.  Not  because  they  communi 
cate  interesting  historical  facts,  which  indeed  it 
was  not  safe  to  set  down  in  correspondence,  but 
rather  because  in  a  thousand  little  ways  they 
cast  such  a  vivid  light  upon  the  very  striking 
character  of  the  man  himself,  and  give  us  his 
personal  surroundings,  also  that  atmosphere  of 
the  times  which  was  intense  to  a  degree  which 
we  hardly  picture  to  ourselves  as  we  read  cold 
sketches  of  them.  We  see  his  anxiety  some 
times  transiently  darkening  into  despondency  ; 
for  his  energetic,  impatient  temperament  chafes 
occasionally  at  the  delays  of  more  timid  souls. 
But  anon  his  high  spirit  gives  him  gleams  of 
bright  hope ;  no  one  who  has  a  cause  so  near 
at  heart  as  Adams  had  the  cause  of  America 
ever  despairs  more  than  temporarily  in  hours  of 
fatigue.  Generally  Adams's  courag£~is~- 9f-4Jie 
stubborn  and  determined  sort ;  he  feels  with 
something  of  bitterness  the  sacrifices  which  he 
seems  to  be  making  at  the  cost  of  his  family, 
and  meets  them  as  might  be  expected  of  such  a 
typical  descendant  of  the  New  England  Puri 
tans. 

"  We  live,  my  dear  soul,  in  an  age  of  trial.     What 


THE  FIRST  CONGRESS.  63 

will  be  the  consequence,  I  know  not.  The  town  of 
Boston,  for  aught  I  can  see,  must  suffer  martyrdom. 
It  must  expire." 

"  I  go  mourning  in  my  heart  all  the  day  long, 
though  I  say  nothing.  I  am  melancholy  for  the 
public  and  anxious  for  my  family.  As  for  myself,  a 
frock  and  trousers,  a  hoe  and  a  spade,  would  do  for 
my  remaining  days.  For  God's  sake  make  your  chil 
dren  hardy )  active,  and  industrious  ;  for  strength,  ac 
tivity,  and  industry  will  be  their  only  resource  and 
dependence." 

This  he  reiterates :  — 

"  The  education  of  our  children  is  never  out  of  my 

«/ 

mini~  Train  them  to  virtue.     Habituate  them  to  in-  '* 
dustry,  activity,  ancl  spirit.    Make  .them,  consider  every 
vice  as  shameful  and  unmanly.     Fire  them  with  am-    ' 
bition  to  be  useful." 

On  August  10,  1774,  Mr.  Adams  set  forth 
upon  a  journey  which  was  to  give  him  his  first 
opportunity  to  see  other  places  than  the  small 
town  of  Boston  and  the  eastern  villages,  to 
meet  persons  whose  habits  of  thought  and  ways 
of  life  differed  from  those  prevalent  among  the 
descendants  of  the  Pilgrims.  With  three  of 
his  fellow  delegates 1  he  started  in  a  coach, 
"  and  rode  to  Coolidge's,"  whither  a  "  large 
number  of  gentlemen "  had  gone  before  and 

1  Bowdoin  declined  ;  Sam  Adams,  Gushing,  Paine,  and 
John  Adams  went. 


64  JOHN  ADAMS. 

had  "  prepared  an  entertainment  for  them." 
The  parting  after  dinner  "  was  truly  affecting, 
beyond  all  description  affecting."  The  follow 
ing  days  proved  most  interesting  and  agree 
able.  At  every  place  of  any  consequence  the 
travelers  were  received  with  flattering  atten 
tions.  The  people  turned  out  in  crowds,  bells 
were  rung,  even  cannon  were  fired ;  the  feast 
ing  was  frequent  and  plentiful;  every  person 
of  any  note  called  on  them ;  and  they  had  am 
ple  opportunities  to  learn  the  opinions  and  to 
judge  the  feelings  of  the  influential  citizens  all 
along  the  route.  Adams  was  naturally  much 
pleased;  he  began  to  have  that  sense  of  self- 
importance  which  expanded  so  rapidly  during 
many  years  to  come.  "  No  governor  of  a  prov 
ince  or  general  of  an  army,"  he  complacently 
remarks,  "  was  ever  treated  with  so  much  cere 
mony  and  assiduity."  But  he  modestly  trans 
lates  the  "  expressions  of  respect  to  us "  into 
"  demonstrations  of  the  sympathy  of  this  peo 
ple  with  the  Massachusetts  Bay  and  its  capi 
tal."  He  told  his  wife  :  — 

"  I  have  not  time  nor  language  to  express  the  hos 
pitality  and  the  studied  and  expensive  respect  with 
which  we  have  been  treated  in  every  stage  of  our 
progress.  If  Camden,  Chatham,  Richmond,  and  St. 
Asaph  had  traveled  through  the  country,  they  could 
not  have  been  entertained  with  greater  demonstra- 


THE  FIRST  CONGRESS.  65 

tions  of  respect  than  Gushing,  Paine,  and  the  brace 
of  Adamses  have  been.  ...  I  confess  the  kindness, 
the  affection,  the  applause  which  have  been  given  to 
me,  and  especially  to  our  province,  have  many  a 
time  filled  my  bosom  and  streamed  from  my  eyes." 

It  was  the  period  when  gentlemen,  dining 
and  shaking  hands,  were  full  of  noble  patriot 
ism  and  a  generous  sense  of  brotherhood,  be 
fore  the  problems  and  hardships  of  a  tedious 
and  painful  conflict  had  bred  weariness  and 
doubt,  before  the  rivalries  of  office  and  author 
ity  had  given  rise  to  jealousy  and  division. 

But  amid  the  courtesies  the  Massachusetts 
men  had  not  been  without  instructive  hints  as 
to  what  difference  of  opinion  they  must  expect 
to  encounter,  and  how  it  would  be  prudent  for 
them  to  bear  themselves.  Forthwith  after  his 
appointment  Adams  had  written  to  the  shrewd 
old  lawyer,  the  Nestor  of  the  Massachusetts  pa 
triots,  Joseph  Hawley,  and  in  reply  had  re 
ceived  a  singularly  wise  as  well  as  kindly  letter 
of  advice.  Having  disposed  of  Adams's  ex 
pressions  of  diffidence  with  some  friendly  words 
of  encouragement,  this  sagacious  counselor  said : 

"  You  cannot,  sir,  but  be  fully  apprised,  that  a 
good  issue  of  the  Congress  depends  a  good  deal  on 
the  harmony,  good  understanding,  and  I  had  almost 
said  brotherly  love  of  its  members.  .  .  .  Now  there  is 
an  opinion  which  does  in  some  degree  obtain  in  the 
5 


66  JOHN  ADAMS. 

other  colonies,  that  the  Massachusetts  gentlemen, 
and  especially  of  the  town  of  Boston,  do  affect  to 
dictate  and  take  the  lead  in  continental  measures ; 
that  we  are  apt,  from  an  inward  vanity  and  self-con 
ceit,  to  assume  big  and  haughty  airs.  Whether  this 
opinion  has  any  foundation  in  fact  I  am  not  certain. 
.  .  .  Now  I  pray  that  everything  in  the  conduct  and 
behavior  of  our  gentlemen,  which  might  tend  to 
beget  or  strengthen  such  an  opinion,  might  be  most 
carefully  avoided.  It  is  highly  probable,  in  my  opin 
ion,  that  you  will  meet  gentlemen  from  several  of  the 
other  colonies,  fully  equal  to  yourselves  or  any  of 
you,  in  their  knowledge  of  Great  Britain,  the  colo 
nies,  law,  history,  government,  commerce,  etc.  .  .  . 
And  by  what  we  from  time  to  time  see  in  the  public 
papers  and  what  our  assembly  and  committees  have 
received  from  the  assemblies  and  committees  of  the 
more  southern  colonies,  we  must  be  satisfied  that 
they  have  men  of  as  much  sense  and  literature  as  any 
we  can  or  ever  could  boast  of." 

Do  these  cautious  words  indicate  that  this 
keen  reader  of  men  had  already  seen  in  John 
Adams  the  presumptuous  and  headstrong  tem 
perament  which  was  to  make  life  so  hard  for 
him  in  the  years  to  come  ?  But  the  sound  acU 
monition,  well  meant  and  well  taken,  was  cor 
roborated  by  occurrences  on  the  journey.  In 
New  York,  McDougall,  an  eminent  patriot, 
advised  the  Massachusetts  men  "  to  avoid  every 
expression  here  which  looked  like  an  allusion 


THE  FIRST  CONGRESS.  67 

to  the  last  appeal."  A  party  in  that  province, 
he  said,  were  "  intimidated,  lest  the  leveling 
spirit  of  the  New  England  colonies  should  prop 
agate  itself  into  New  York.  Another  party 
are  prompted  by  Episcopalian  prejudices 
against  New  England."  At  an  entertainment 
in  the  city  Mr.  Philip  Livingston,  "a  great, 
rough,  rapid  mortal,"  with  whom  "  there  is  no 
holding  any  conversation,"  seemed  uto  dread 
New  England,  the  leveling  spirit,"  etc.,  threw 
out  distasteful  hints  "  of  the  Goths  and  Van 
dals,"  and  made  unpleasant  allusions  to  "  our 
hanging  the  Quakers,"  etc.  Perhaps  it  is  to 
the  self-restraint  which  Mr.  Adams  had  to  im 
pose  on  his  resentful  tongue  at  these  interviews 
that  we  must  attribute  his  harsh  criticism  of 
the  city  and  its  people :  — 

"  We  have  been  treated,"  he  admitted,  "  with  an 
assiduous  respect;  but  I  have  not  seen  one  real 
gentleman,  one  well-bred  man  since  I  came  to  town. 
At  their  entertainments  there  is  no  conversation  that 
is  agreeable ;  there  is  no  modesty,  no  attention  to  one 
another.  They  talk  very  loud,  very  fast,  and  all  to 
gether.  If  they  ask  you  a  question,  before  you  can 
utter  three  words  of  your  answer,  they  will  break 
out  upon  you  again,  and  talk  away." 

But  if  Mr.  Adams  was  a  little  pettish  at  not 
being  listened  to  with  a  gentlemanlike  deference 
by  the  New  Yorkers,  he  had  worse  to  endure 


-i 


68  JOHN  ADAMS. 

before  he  set  foot  in  Philadelphia.  A  party  of 
Philadelphia!!  "  Sons  of  Liberty  "  came  out  to 
meet  the  Massachusetts  travelers,  and  warned 
them  they  had  been  represented  as  "  four  des 
perate  adventurers,"  John  Adams  and  Paine 
being  young  lawyers  of  "  no  great  talents, 
reputation,  or  weight,"  who  were  seeking  to 
raise  themselves  into  consequence  by  "court 
ing  popularity."  Moreover,  they  were  "  sus 
pected  of  having  independence  in  view ;  "  but 
if  they  should  utter  the  word  they  would  be 
"undone, "for  independence  was  as  "unpopu 
lar  in  Pennsylvania  and  in  all  the  middle  and 
southern  states  as  the  stamp  act  itself." 

All  this  could  hardly  have  been  gratifying, 
even  if  it  were  wholesome.  But  the  quartette 
took  it  wonderfully  well,  and  shrewdly  acted 
upon  it.  They  were  even  so  far  reticent  and 
moderate  in  the  debates  as  to  be  outstripped 
by  many  in  rebellious  expressions ;  and  though 
really  more  sternly  in  earnest  and  more  ad 
vanced  in  their  views  than  any  others,  they 
skillfully  so  managed  it  that  for  a  long  while 
they  were  not  recognized  as  constituting  a  van 
guard,  or  as  being  either  leaders  or  drivers 
of  the  rest.  Indeed,  their  visible  moderation 
provoked  some  uncomplimentary  utterances 
of  surprise.  While  they  measured  their  words 
rather  within  than  beyond  the  limits  of  what 


THE  FIRST  CONGRESS.  69 

their  colony  was  anxious  to  make  good,  the  im 
petuous  southerners  vented  more  reckless  lan 
guage,  and  soon  found  themselves  committed  to 
the  forward  movement  by  this  hasty  and  unin 
tentional  assumption  of  a  position  at  the  head 
of  the  column.  "The  gentlemen  from  Vnv 
ginia"  pleased  Mr.  Adams  much.  They  "ap 
pear  to  be  the  most  spirited  and  consistent  of 
any,"  he  said.  "Young  Rutledge,"  who  "was 
high  enough,"  apparently  astonished  and  per 
haps  not  a  little  amused  Mr.  Adams,  hereto 
fore  without  experience  of  a  temperament  so 
unlike  the  restrained  but  stubborn  spirit  of  the 
old-fashioned  New  Englander.  Sometimes 
tongues  moved  freely  under  artificial  stimulus ; 
thus  one  day  "  we  went  with  Mr.  William  Bar- 
rell  to  his  store,  and  drank  punch,  and  ate 
dried  smoked  sprats  with  him ;  "  in  the  evening 
at  Mr.  Mifflin's  there  was  "  an  elegant  supper, 
and  we  drank  sentiments  till  eleven  o'clock. 
Lee  and  Harrison  were  very  high.  Lee  had 
dined  with  Mr.  Dickinson,  and  drank  bur 
gundy  the  whole  afternoon."  There  were 
enough  treasonable  toasts  that  festal  night  to 
have  seriously  troubled  the  patriotic  revelers, 
had  the  royal  authorities  found  it  more  con 
venient  to  punish  such  vinous  disaffection. 

Not  much  real  work  could  be  done  by  this 
first  Congress.    In  fact  it  was  simply  a  conclave 


70  JOHN  ADAMS. 

of  selected  citizens  convened  to  talk  over  the 
imminent  crisis.  The  people  had  invested  them 
with  no  authority,  and  could  expect  only  wise 
counsel.  Thus  the  sole  definite  result  -of-  their 
deliberations  was  a  recommendation  of  a  non- 
exportation  and  non-importation  league  of  all 
the  provinces.  It  was  a  poor  medicine,  but  it 
was  according  to  the  knowledge  of  the  times ; 
heroic  but  mistaken  surgery,  reminding  one  of 
the  blood-letting  which  used  to  be  practised  in 
those  same  days  at  the  very  times  when  all  the 
vigor  of  the  system  seemed  likely  to  be  taxed 
to  the  uttermost.  On  the  verge  of  a  war  .with 
Great  Britain,  the  colonists  were  bidden  by 
their  wise  men  to  impoverish  themselves  as 
much  as  possible,  and  to  cut  off  the  supply  of 
all  the  numerous  articles  of  common  necessity 
and  daily  use,  which  they  would  only  be  able 
to  replenish  after  the  war  should  be  over.  It 
is  true  that  they  hoped  to  avoid  war  by  this 
commercial  pressure  upon  England,  and  there 
is  so  much  plausibility  in  the  argument  that, 
had  not  the  folly  of  the  policy  been  demon 
strated  by  its  palpable  failure  before  the  war  of 
the  Revolution,  and  again,  a  generation  later, 
before  the  war  of  1812,  it  might  possibly  still 
be  believed  in  to  this  day.  It  is  now  known 
that  commercial  pressure  has  often  hastened 
peace,  but  never  averted  war.  But  when  the 


THE  FIRST  CONGRESS.  71 

first  Congress  met,  experiments  had  not  yet 
manifested  this  truth.  Mr.  Adams  Apparently 
had  some  glimmering  appreciation  of  the  case,  a^ 
for  he  only  tavored  half  of  the_measurer  ap- 
proving  of  non-exportation,  buJLjnot . -QJL  non 
importation.  This  was  foolish,  being  a  plan: 
for  putting  out  money  without  taking  it  back. 

Upon  another  question  which  arose  also,  Mr. 
Adams  was  very  imperfectly  satisfied  with  the 
result  of  the  deliberations.  A  great  committee 
was  formed,  upon  which  each  colony  was  rep- 
resenird  l>y  two  of  its  members,  and  whieh 
was  charged  with  the  duty  of  drafting  a 
declaration  of  rights.  A  second  committee, 
of  Tialf  the  size,  was  also  deputed  to  spe 
cify  wherein  the  enumerated  rights  had  been 
infringed.  The  report  of  the  second  com 
mittee,  when  rendered,  was  referred  to  the 
first  committee,  which  was  at  the  same  time 
increased  in  numbers.  Mr.  Adams  was  an  orig 
inal  member  of  the  first  committee,  which 
afterward  for  a  time  became  of  such  impor 
tance  as  to  supersede  the  regular  sittings  of  the 
full  Congress,  and  at  last  suffered  very  natu 
rally  from  the  jealousy  of  those  who  were  not 
included  in  it.  Adams  was  alscLjaae,joL.ihfi.  , 
sub-committee  appointed  to  drajt__the  report, 
and  lie  struggled  hard  to  have  embodied  in  the 
declaration  an  assertion  of  "  natural  rights,"  as 


72  JOHN  ADAMS. 

^general  basis.  "  I  was,"  he  said,  "  very  stren 
uous  for  retaining  and  insisting  on  it,  as  a 
resource  to  which  we  might  be  driven  by  Par 
liament  much  sooner  than  we  were  aware." 
But  after  long  and  earnest  discussion  he  was 
defeated,  as  has  been  supposed,  through  the 
"  influence  of  the  conservative  Virginia  mem 
bers."  i 

The  really  important  function,  which  this 
Congress  fulfilled  efficiently  and  witli_Jhe_.best 
results,  was  the  establishment  of  a  sen.se_oi 
unity  among  the  colonies.  Not  only  were  >  their 
representative  men  enabled  to  know  each  other, 
but  through  the  reports  which  they  carried 
home  and  spread  abroad  among  their  neigh 
bors,  the  people  of  each  province  could  form 
some  fair  estimate  of  the  prevalent  temper  and 
the  quality  of  sentiment  in  every  other  prov 
ince.  The  temperature  of  each  colony  could 
be  marked  with  fair  accuracy  on  the  patriotic 
thermometer.  The  wishes  and  the  fears  of  the 
several  communities,  based  on  their  distinct  in 
terests,  were  appreciated  with  a  near  approach 
to  accuracy.  The  leaders  in  the  movement 
could  discern  the  obstacles  which  they  had  to 
encounter.  The  characters  and  opinions  of  in 
fluential  men  were  learned ;  it  was  known  how 
far  each  could  be  relied  upon,  and  at  what 

1  Mr.  C.  F.  Adams,  in  his  Life  of  John  Adams. 


THE  FIRST  CONGRESS.  73 

point  of  advance  one  or  another  might  be  ex 
pected  to  take  fright.  On  the  whole,  the  out 
come  of  all  this  comparison  and  observation 
was  satisfactory.  There  was  a  substantial  con 
cordance,  which  left  room  indeed  for  much 
variety  in  schemes  of  policy,  in  anticipations 
of  results,  in  doctrines  concerning  rights,  and 
in  theories  as  to  the  relationship  of  the  col 
onies  to  that  step-dame,  called  the  mother- 
country.  But  in  the  main  there  was  a  funda 
mental  consent  that  England  was  exercising  an 
intolerable  tyranny,  and  that  resistance  must 
be  made  to  whatever  point  might  prove  neces 
sary.  Also  there  was  a  manifest  loyalty  to 
wards  each  other,  and  a  determination  to  stand 
together  and  to  make  the  cause  of  one  the 
cause  of  all.  To  the  delegation  from  Massa 
chusetts  this  feeling  was  all-important  and  most 
reassuring.  Adams  seized  eagerly  upcn  every 
indication  of  it.  By  nature  he  was  a  man  of 
action  rather  than  of  observation ;  and  upon  the 
present  errand  he  had  to  do  violence  to  his  na 
tive  qualities  in  many  ways.  It  is  droll  to  see 
this  impetuous  and  imperious  creature  seeking 
to  curb  himself,  this  most  self-asserting  of  men 
actually  keeping  himself  in  the  background  by 
an  exertion  of  will  nothing  less  than  tremen 
dous.  His  painful  consciousness  of  the  necessi- 
ties  of  the  situation,  impressed  upon  him  by 


74  JOHN  ADAMS. 

others  and  confirmed  by  his  own  common-sense, 
is  constantly  apparent.  For  two  months  the 
rash  and  outspoken  man  is  politic  and  reticent, 
the  headstrong  leader  assumes  moderation  in 
the  middle  rank.  In  September  he  wrote: 
"We  have  had  numberless  prejudices  to  re 
move  here.  We  have  been  obliged  to  act  with 
great  delicacy  and  caution.  We  have  been 
obliged  to  keep  ourselves  out  of  sight,  and  to 
feel  pulses,  and  to  sound  the  depths ;  to  insin 
uate  our  sentiments,  designs,  and  desires  by 
means  of  other  persons,  sometimes  of  one  prov 
ince,  sometimes  of  another." 

No  reports  of  the  debates  remain  which  can 
give  us  any  just  knowledge  of  the  part  he 
played  or  the  influence  he  exercised.  It  was 
not  prudent  for  semi-rebels  to  keep  such  rec 
ords.  But  his  diary  and  his  letters,  especially 
those  to  his  wife,  from  which  most  of  the 
foregoing  quotations  have  been  made,  reflect 
with  picturesque  and  delightful  naturalness  his 
struggles  with  himself,  his  opinions  of  others, 
his  anxiety,  his  irritations,  his  alternate  hopes 
and  fears,  and  intermittent  turns  of  despon 
dency  and  reassurance.  The  reader  of  these 
memorials,  which  Adams  has  left  behind  him, 
will  be  struck  to  see  how  very  emotional  he 
was;  varying  moods  succeed  each  other,  as 
shadow  and  sunshine  chase  one  another  over 


''•    "  T>        ™      * 


FIRST  CONGRESS 

the  face  of  the  fields  in  spring-time. 
ment,  hopefulness,  kindliness,  weariness,  dis- 
likings,  mistrust,  doubt,  pleasure,  ennui,  moral- 
izings,  checker  in  lively  succession  records  only 
too  brief  for  so  varied  a  display.  Beyond  this 
personal  element  they  also  give  much  of  the 
atmosphere  of  Congress.  At  first  he  burst 
forth  in  enthusiastic  admiration  of  that  body  : 
"  There  is  in  the  Congress  a  collection  of  the 
greatest  men  upon  this  continent  in  point  of 
abilities,  virtues,  and  fortunes.  The  magna 
nimity  and  public  spirit  which  I  see  here  make 
me  blush  for  the  sordid,  venal  herd  which  I 
have  seen  in  my  own  province."  Again  he 
wrote  to  Warren  :  "  Here  are  fortunes,  abilities, 
learning,  eloquence,  acuteness,  equal  to  any  I 
ever  met  with  in  my  life.  .  .  .  Every  question 
is  discussed  with  a  moderation,  an  acuteness, 
and  a  minuteness  equal  to  that  of  Queen  Eliza 
beth's  privy  council."  But  the  moderation  and 
minuteness,  admirable  qualities  as  they  were, 
involved  vexation  in  the  shape  of  "  infinite  de 
lays."  So  occasionally  Adams  finds  his  pulse 
beating  somewhat  faster  than  that  of  others, 
and  says  with  less  satisfaction:  "But  then, 
when  you  ask  the  question,  4  What  is  to  be 
done  ?  '  they  answer  :  4  Stand  still.  Bear  with 
patience.  If  you  come  to  a  rupture  with  the 
troops  all  is  lost  !  '  Resuming  the  first  charter, 


76  JOHN  ADAMS. 

absolute  independency,  etc.,  are  ideas  which 
startle  people  here."  "  They  shudder  at  the 
prospect  of  blood,"  he  says,  yet  are  "  unani 
mously  and  unalterably  against  submission  "  by 
Massachusetts  to  any  of  the  Acts  of  Parlia 
ment.  Adams  felt  very  keenly  the  inconsist 
ency  between  these  sentiments.  He  knew  that 
the  choice  lay  between  submission  and  blood, 
and  he  was  irritated  at  seeing  Congress  guilty 
of  what  seemed  to  him  the  weakness,  unques 
tionably  wholly  alien  from  his  own  character, 
of  recoiling  from  the  consequences  of  that 
which  they  acknowledged  to  be  the  proper 
course.  He  noted  with  disgust  the  "  general 
opinion  here,  that  it  is  practicable  for  us  in  the 
Massachusetts  to  live  wholly  without  a  legisla 
ture  and  courts  of  justice  as  long  as  will  be 
necessary  to  obtain  relief."  "A  more  adequate 
support  and  relief  to  the  Massachusetts  should 
be  adopted,"  he  said,  than  "figurative  pane 
gyrics  upon  our  wisdom,  fortitude,  and  tem 
perance,"  coupled  with  "most  fervent  exhor 
tations  to  perseverance."  "  Patience,  forbear 
ance,  long-suffering  are  the  lessons  taught  here 
for  our  province,"  —  lessons  which  oftentimes 
severely  taxed  his  "  art  and  address,"  though 
he  did  his  best  to  receive  them  with  a  serene 
countenance. 

But  anon  these  expressions  of  impatience  and 


THE  FIRST   CONGRESS.  77 

discontent  were  varied  by  outbursts  of  enthusi 
astic  joyousness.  A  rumor  came  of  a  bombard 
ment  of  Boston,  and  he  writes  :  "  War  !  War ! 
War  !  was  the  cry,  and  it  was  pronounced  in  a 
tone  which  would  have  done  honor  to  the  ora 
tory  of  a  Briton  or  a  Roman.  If  it  had  proved 
true,1  you  would  have  heard  the  thunder  of  an 
American  Congress."  When  the  spirited  reso 
lutions  from  Suffolk  County,  Massachusetts, 
were  presented  to  Congress,  and  received  in  a 
warm,  kindred  temper,  he  exclaims  in  joyous 
triumph  :  "  This  day  convinced  me  that  Amer 
ica  will  support  the  Massachusetts,  or  perish 
with  her."  He  was  profoundly  affected  by 
manifestations  of  sympathy  for  his  province. 
The  intensity  of  such  times  is  brought  home  to 
us  as  we  read  his  words :  "  The  esteem,  the  af 
fection,  the  admiration  for  the  people  of  Bos 
ton  and  the  Massachusetts,  which  were  ex 
pressed  yesterday,  and  the  fixed  determination 
that  they  should  be  supported,  were  enough  to 
melt  a  heart  of  stone.  I  saw  the  tears  gush 
into  the  eyes  of  the  old,  grave,  pacific  Quakers 
of  Pennsylvania." 

All  the  while,  through  these  trying  alterna 
tions,  he  more  and  more  accustomed  himself  to 
think,  though  never  openly  to  speak,  of  the  end 
towards  which  events  were  surely  tending,  an 

1  The  rumor  was  quickly  contradicted. 


78  JOHN  ADAMS. 

end  which  he  anticipated  more  confidently,  and 
contemplated  more  resolutely  than  probably 
any  of  his  comrades.  Let  our  people,  he  ad 
vised,  drill  and  lay  in  military  stores,  but  "  let 
them  avoid  war,  if  possible,  —  if  possible,  I  say." 
Many  little  indications  show  how  slender,  in 
his  inmost  thought,  he  conceived  this  possibil 
ity  to  be.  On  September  20,  17T4,  he  was  in 
a  very  ardent  frame  of  mind.  "  Frugality,  my 
dear,"  he  wrote  to  a  wife  who  needed  no  such 
admonitions,  "  frugality,  economy,  parsimony 
must  be  our  refuge.  I  hope  the  ladies  are 
every  day  diminishing  their  ornaments,  and  the 
gentlemen  too.  Let  us  eat  potatoes  and  drink 
water.  Let  us  wear  canvas  and  undressed 
sheepskins,  rather  than  submit  to  the  unright 
eous  and  ignominious  domination  that  is  pre 
pared  for  us."  These  injunctions  to  abstemi 
ousness  were  perhaps  merely  reactionary  after 
some  of  the  "  incessant  feasting "  which  was 
trying  the  digestion  of  the  writer.  For  these 
patriots  at  this  early  stage  of  the  troubles  were 
not  without  alleviations  amid  their  cares  and 
toils.  From  nine  in  the  morning  till  three  in 
the  afternoon  they  attended  to  business,  "  then 
we  adjourn  and  go  to  dine  with  some  of  the 
nobles  of  Pennsylvania  at  four  o'clock,  and  feast 
upon  ten  thousand  delicacies,  and  sit  drinking 
madeira,  claret,  and  burgundy  till  six  or  seven, 


THE  FIRST  CONGRESS.  79 

and  then  go  home  fatigued  to  death  with  busi 
ness,  company,  and  care."  Similar  allusions  to 
"a  mighty  feast,"  "an  elegant  feast,"  to  tur 
tle,  rich  dishes,  and  glorious  wines  abound. 
It  was  probably  when  the  gastric  resources  had 
been  too  sorely  taxed  by  these  fiery  hospitalities 
that  he  became  irritated  and  impatient,  so  that 
he  said  to  his  wife  :  "  Tedious  indeed  is  our 
business,  —  slow  as  snails."  "  I  am  wearied  to 
death  with  the  life  I  lead." 

As  the  October  days  glided  by  and  the  end 
of  the  session  did  not  seem  to  be  at  hand,  his 
natural  impatience  frequently  broke  out,  ex 
pressed  with  that  sarcastic  acerbity  which  he 
so  often  displayed. 

"  The  deliberations  of  Congress  are  spun  out  to  an 
immeasurable  length.  There  is  so  much  wit,  sense, 
learning,  acuteness,  subtlety,  eloquence,  etc.,  among 
fifty  gentlemen,  .  .  .  that  an  immensity  of  time  is 
spent  unnecessarily." 

"  This  assembly  is  like  no  other  that  ever  existed. 
Every  man  in  it  is  a  great  man,  an  orator,  a  critic,  a ; 
statesman  ;  and  therefore  every  man  upon  every 
question  must  show  his  oratory,  his  criticism,  and  his 
political  abilities.  The  consequence  of  this  is,  that 
business  is  drawn  and  spun  out  to  an  immeasurable 
length.  I  believe,  if  it  was  moved  and  seconded  that 
we  should  come  to  a  resolution  that  three  and  two 
make  five,  we  should  be  entertained  with  logic  and 
rhetoric,  law,  history,  politics,  and  mathematics  ;  and 


80  JOHN  ADAMS. 

then  —  we  should  pass  the  resolution,  unanimously, 
in  the  affirmative." 

"  These  great  wits,  these  subtle  critics,  these  re 
fined  geniuses,  these  learned  lawyers,  these  wise  states 
men,  are  so  fond  of  showing  their  parts  and  powers, 
as  to  make  their  consultations  very  tedious.  Young 
Ned  Rutledge  is  a  perfect  bob-o-lincoln,  —  a  swal 
low,  a  sparrow,  a  peacock  ;  excessively  vain,  exces 
sively  weak,  and  excessively  variable  and  unsteady ; 
jejune,  inane,  and  puerile." 

The  Adams  censoriousness  was  bubbling  to 
the  surface.  Even  the  "perpetual  round  of 
feasting"  began  to  pall  upon  his  simple  New 
England  stomach,  and  he  grumbles  that  "  Phil 
adelphia,  with  all  its  trade  and  wealth  and  reg 
ularity,  is  not  Boston.  The  morals  of  our 
people  are  much  better;  their  manners  are 
more  polite  and  agreeable;  they  are  purer 
English ;  our  language  is  better ;  our  taste  is 
better  ;  our  persons  are  handsomer ;  our  spirit 
is  greater  ;  our  laws  are  wiser ;  our  religion  is 
superior;  our  education  is  better."  But  by 
November  28,  when  he  was  able  at  last  to  start 
for  home,  he  recovered  his  good -nature,  and 
though  he  had  to  depart  in  "  a  very  great  rain," 
yet  he  could  speak  of  "  the  happy,  the  peace 
ful,  the  elegant,  the  hospitable  and  polite  city 
of  Philadelphia,"  and  declared  his  expectation 
"  ever  to  retain  a  most  grateful,  pleasing  sense 
of  the  many  civilities  "  he  had  received  there. 


THE  FIRST  CONGRESS.  81 

In  truth  there  were  sound  reasons  to  account 
for  Mr.  Adams's  irritability  and  critical  out 
bursts.  Though  he  had  sense  enough  not  to 
say  so,  yet  evidently  he  was  dissatisfied  with 
the  practical  achievements  of  the  Congress. 
In  a  momentous  crisis,  with  events  pressing 
and  anxious  throngs  hanging  expectant  upon 
the  counsels  of  the  sages  in  debate,  those  sages 
had  broken  up  their  deliberations,  and  were 
carrying  home  to  their  constituents  only  a  rec 
ommendation  of  commercial  non-intercourse. 
One  half  of  this  scheme*  Adams  plainly  saw  to 
be  foolish ;  the  mischief  of  the  other  half  he  did 
not  comprehend;  yet  he  was  shrewd  enough  to 
give  it  small  credit  for  efficiency.  Of  an  active, 
impatient  temperament,  he  was  sorely  discour 
aged  at  this  outcome  of  a  gathering  to  which 
he  had  gone  with  high  hopes.  He  could  hardly 
be  expected  to  appreciate  that  a  greater  rate 
of  speed  would  probably  have  resulted  in  a 
check  and  reaction.  By  doing  too  much  Con 
gress  would  have  stimulated  a  revulsion  of  pop 
ular  feeling ;  by  doing  too  little  it  tempted 
the  people  to  demand  more.  The  really  serious 
misfortune  was,  that  the  little  which  was  done 
was  unpopular.  On  his  way  home  Mr.  Adams 
learned  that  non-intercourse  was  so  ill-received 
in  New  York  that  the  tories  were  jubilant,  and 
expected  to  obtain  conclusive  possession  of  the 
province. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   SECOND   SESSION   OF   CONGRESS. 

ME.  ADAMS  came  home  only  to  change  the 
scene  of  his  public  labor.  The  provincial  as 
sembly  at  once  summoned  him  for  consultation, 
and  directly  afterward  he  was  chosen  a  mem 
ber  of  that  body  as  a  delegate  from  Braintree. 
No  sooner  had  it  adjourned,  in  December,  than 
he  found  himself  involved  in  a  new  undertak 
ing.  The  lively  newspaper  discussions,  con 
ducted  after  the  fashion  of  the  times  by  essays 
and  arguments  in  the  form  of  letters,  consti 
tuted  an  important  means  of  influencing  popu 
lar  sentiment.  The  tory  "  Massachusettensis  " 1 
was  doing  very  effective  work  on  the  king's 
side,  and  was  accomplishing  a  perceptible  de 
fection  from  the  patriot  ranks.  Adams  took 
up  his  pen,  as  "  Novanglus,"  in  the  Boston 
Gazette,  and  maintained  the  controversy  with 
absorbing  ardor  and  gratifying  success  until 
the  bloodshed  at  Lexington  put  an  end  to 
merely  inky  warfare.  The  last  of  his  papers, 
1  Judge  Leonard. 


THE  SECOND  SESSION  OF  CONGRESS.         83 


in  type  at  the  time  of  the  fray,  was 
never  published. 

Shortly  after  that  conflict  Mr.  Adams  rode 
over  the  scene  of  action  and  pursuit,  carefully 
gathering  information.  On  his  return  he  was 
taken  seriously  ill  with  a  fever,  and  before  he 
was  fairly  recovered  he  was  obliged  to  set  forth 
on  his  way  to  Philadelphia,  where  Congress 
wasjo-iaeet  again  on  May  5,  1775.  He  trav 
eled  in  a  "  sulky,"  with  a  servant  on  horseback, 
and  arrived  on  May  10.  It  was  no  light  mat 
ter  in  those  troubled  times,  within  a  few  days 
after  bloody  collisions  between  British  troops 
and  Yankee  farmers,  to  leave  his  wife  and 
small  children  alone  in  a  farmhouse  not  many 
miles  from  the  waters  on  which  rode  his  maj 
esty's  ships  of  war.  He  wrote  to  Mrs.  Adams  : 
"  Many  fears  and  jealousies  and  imaginary 
dangers  will  be  suggested  to  you,  but  I  hope 
you  will  not  be  impressed  by  them.  In  case 
of  real  danger,  of  which  you  cannot  fail  to 
have  previous  intimations,  fly  to  the  woods 
with  our  children."  But  he  was  happy  in  be 
ing  well  mated  for  the  exigencies  of  such  days. 
His  admirable  wife  would  perhaps  have  not 
been  less  distinguished  than  himself,  had  she 
not  been  handicapped  by  the  misfortune  of  sex. 
She  was  a  woman  of  rare  mind,  high  courage, 
and  of  a;  patriotism  not  less  intense  and  devoted 


84  JOHN  ADAMS. 

than  that  of  any  hero  of  the  Revolution.  Mr. 
Adams  found  infinite  support  and  comfort  in 
her  and  gratefully  acknowledged  it.  His  ac 
count  of  Dickinson,  by  way  of  comparison  with 
his  own  case,  is  at  once  comical  and  pathetic. 
That  gentleman's  mother  and  wife,  he  says,' 
"  were  continually  distressing  him  with  their 
remonstrances.  His  mother  said  to  him  : 
'  Johnny,  you  will  be  hanged  ;  your  estate  will 
be  forfeited  and  confiscated ;  you  wrill  leave 
your  excellent  wife  a  widow,  and  your  charm 
ing  children  orphans,  beggars  and  infamous.' 
From  my  soul  I  pitied  Mr.  Dickinson.  ...  If 
my  mother  and  my  wife  had  expressed  such 
sentiments  to  me,  I  was  certain  that,  if  they 
did  not  wholly  unman  me  and  make  me  an 
apostate,  they  would  make  me  the  most  miser 
able  man  alive."  But  he  was  "very  happy" 
in  that  his  mother  and  wife,  and  indeed  all 
his  own  and  his  wife's  families,  had  been  uni 
formly  of  the  same  mind  as  himself,  "  so  that  I 
always  enjoyed  perfect  peace  at  home."  Thus 
free  from  any  dread  of  a  fusilade  in  the  rear, 
he  could  push  forward  faster  than  many  others. 
Everywhere  along  his  route  towards  Phila 
delphia  he  beheld  cheering  signs  of  the  spirit 
which  he  longed  to  see  universal  among  the 
people.  In  New  York  the  tories  "  durst  not 
show  their  heads  ;  "  the  patriots  had  "shut  up 


THE  SECOND  SESSION  OF  CONGRESS.         85 

the  port,  seized  the  custom-house,  arms,  ammu 
nition,  etc.,  called  a  provincial  Congress,"  and 
agreed  "  to  stand  by  whatever  shall  be  ordered 
by  the  continental  and  their  provincial  Con 
gress."  The  great  tory,  Dr.  Cooper,  had  fled 
on  board  a  man-of-war.  "The  Jerse}Ts  are 
aroused  and  greatly  assist  the  friends  of  lib 
erty  in  New  York.  North  Carolina  has  done 
bravely."  In  Connecticut  "everything  is  do 
ing  .  .  .  that  can  be  done  by  men,  both  for  New 
York  and  Boston."  In  Philadelphia  he  saw  a 
"  wonderful  phenomenon,  ...  a  field-day,  on 
which  three  battalions  of  soldiers  were  re 
viewed,  making  full  two  thousand  men  "  of  all 
arms.  Colonel  Washington  was  showing  his 
opinion  of  the  situation  by  appearing  in  Con 
gress  in  his  uniform.  Qn  all  sides  were  the 
tokens  of  warlike  preparation.  Adams  was 
overjoyed.  "  We  shall  see  better  times  yet !  " 
he  cheerily  exclaimed.  "  The  military  spirit 
which  runs  through  the  continent  is  truly 
amazing."  He  himself  caught  some  whiff  of 
the  enthusiasm  for  actual  gunpowder.  "  I  have 
bought,"  he  said,  "some  military  books,  and 
intend  to  buy  more."  "  Oh,  that  I  were  a  sol 
dier  !  I  will  be.  I  am  reading  military  books. 
Every  one  must,  and  will,  and  shall  be  a  sol 
dier."  But  in  cooler  moments  he  concluded 
that  his  age  and  health  rendered  it  foolish  for 


86  JOHN  ADAMS. 

him  to  think  of  undertaking  camp-life.  He 
was  right,  of  course ;  his  proper  place  was 
among  the  civilians.  Yet  he  accepted  it  not 
without  some  grumbling.  A  little  later,  when 
he  rode  out  with  a  great  cavalcade  to  honor 
Washington  and  others  on  their  departure  for 
the  leaguer  around  Boston,  he  wrote  home,  de 
scribing  the  "  pride  and  pomp "  of  the  occa 
sion:  "I,  poor  creature,  worn  out  with  scrib 
bling  for  my  bread  and  my  liberty,  low  in 
spirits  and  weak  in  health,  must  leave  others 
to  wear  the  laurels  which  I  have  sown."  He 
seemed  at  times  to  have  an  unpleasant  jealousy 
that  the  military  heroes  appeared  to  be  en 
countering  greater  dangers  than  the  civilians, 
and  he  argued  to  show  that,  in  one  way  and 
another,  his  risk  was  not  less  than  that  of  an 
officer  in  the  army.  He  says  that  sometimes 
he  feels  "an  ambition  to  be  engaged  in  the 
more  active,  gay,  and  dangerous  scenes  ;  daru 
gerous,  I  say,  but  I  recall  the  word,  for  there 
is  no  course  more  dangerous  than  that  which  I 
am  in."  But  he  had  no  need  to  defend  either 
his  courage  or  his  capacity  for  self-devotion  ; 
neither  could  be  arraigned,  even  by  malicious 
opponents. 

Naturally  the  display  of  activity  and  zeal  on 
the  part  of  the  disaffected  disturbed  those  who, 
without  being  tories,  were  yet  of  a  less  deter- 


THE  SECOND  SESSION  OF  CONGRESS.         87 

mined  temper,  less  hopeless  of  reconciliation, 
more  reluctant  to  go  fast,  and  dreading  noth 
ing  so  much  as  an  inevitable  step  towards  sep 
aration.  Independence  was  still  spoken  of 
deprecatingly,  with  awe  and  bated  breath,  and 
its  friends  were  compelled  to  recognize  the 
continuing  necessity  of  suppressing  their  views 
and  maintaining  for  the  present  only  a  sort  of 
secret  brotherhood.  Yet  it  was  inevitable  that 
their  sentiments  should  be  divined  by  the  keen 
observers,  who  thought  differently.  The  mod- 
eratist  or  reconciliationist  party  not  only  un 
derstood  the  temper  prevalent,  though  not  uni 
versal,  in  the  New  England  section,  but  they 
read  Mr.  Adams  with  perfect  accuracy  —  a 
perusal  never,  it  must  be  confessed,  very  diffi 
cult  to  be  made  by  any  clever  man.  It  was 
not  without  disappointment  after  his  encourag 
ing  journey  that  he  "  found  this  Congress  like 
the  last ;  .  .  .  a  strong  jealousy  of  us  from 
New  England,  and  the  Massachusetts  in  par 
ticular  ;  suspicions  entertained  of  designs  of  in 
dependency,  an  American  republic,  presbyte- 
rian  principles,  and  twenty  other  things."  He 
had  to  admit  that  his  "  sentiments  were  heard 
in  Congress  with  great  caution,  and  seemed  to 
make  but  little  impression."  The  reticence 
and  self-restraint  practiced  by  him  in  the  early 
weeks  of  the  preceding  summer  session  had  not 


88  JOHN  ADAMS. 

long  retarded  a  just  estimate  both  of  his  opin 
ions  and  his  abilities.  This  is  proved  by  the 
fact  that  the  moderates  now  singled  him  out  as 
their  chief  and  most  dangerous  antagonist.  It 
was  this  respect  and  hostility  manifested  pre 
eminently  towards  him  by  the  opponents  of 
separation  which,  combined  with  his  own  stren 
uous  force,  placed  him  during  this  winter  at 
the  head  of  the  party  of  independence. 

In  strong  contrast  with  him,  upon  the  other 
side,  was  Dickinson,  leader  of  the  conciliation- 
ists,  rich,  courteous,  popular,  cultivated,  plausi 
ble,  amiable,  moderate  by  nature,  and  handi 
capped  by  the  ladies  at  home.  This  tardy, 
though  really  sincere  patriot,  now  insisted  that  a 
second  petition,  another  "  olive-branch,"  should 
be  sent  to  the  king.  Adams  wrought  earnestly 
against  "  this  measure  of  imbecility,"  the  suc 
cess  of  wli if  h  lie  afterward,  said '^embarrassed 
every  exertion  of  Congress."  Dickinson  pre 
vailed,  though  only  narrowly  and  imperfectly ; 
and  Adams  was  extremely  disgusted.  His 
views  were  well-established  ;  he  had  a  perma 
nent  faith  that  "  powder  and  artillery  are  the 
most  efficacious,  sure,  and  infallible  conciliatory 
measures  we  can  adopt."  During  the  debate 
he  left  the  hall  and  was  followed  by  Mr.  Dick 
inson,  who  overtook  him  in  the  yard,  and  be 
rated  him  with  severe  language  in  an  outburst 


THE  SECOND  SESSION  OF  CONGRESS.         89 

of  temper  quite  unusual  with  the  civil  Penn- 
sylvanian.  Mr.  Adams  retorted,  according  to 
his  own  account,  "  very  coolly."  But  from  this 
time  forth  there  was  a  breach  between  these 
two,  and  though  in  debate  they  were  able  to 
preserve  the  amenities,  they  spoke  no  more 
with  each  other  in  private. 

But  there  were  more  horses  harnessed  to  the 
Congressional  coach  than  Mr.  Dickinson  could 
drive.  Many  necessities  were  pressing  upon 
that  body,  and  many  problems  were  imminent, 
which  could  not  readily  be  solved  in  consistence 
with  loyalist  or  even  with  moderatist  princi 
ples.  Adams,  hampered  by  no  such  principles, 
would  have  had  little  difficulty  in  establishing 
a  policy  of  great  energy  —  possibly  of  too  great 
energy  —  had  he  been  allowed  to  dictate  to  the 
assembly.  Many  years  afterwards,  in  writing 
his  autobiography,  he  gave  a  very  graphic  and 
comprehensive  sketch  of  his  views  at  this  time. 
It  is  true  that  he  was  looking  back  through  a 
long  vista  of  years,  and  his  memory  was  not 
always  accurate,  so  that  we  may  doubt  whether 
at  the  actual  moment  his  scheme  was  quite  so 
bold  and  broad,  so  rounded  and  complete,  as 
he  recalled  it.  But  unquestionably  his  feelings 
are  substantially  well  shown. 

"  I  thought,"  he  says,  "  the  first  step  ought  to  be  to 
recommend  to  the  people  of  every  state  in  the  Union 


90  JOHN  ADAMS. 

to  seize  on  all  the  crown  officers  and  hold  them,  with 
civility,  humanity,  and  generosity,  as  hostages  for  the 
security  of  the  people  of  Boston,  and  to  be  exchanged 
for  them  as  soon  as  the  British  army  would  release 
them ;  that  we  ought  to  recommend  to  the  people  of 
all  the  states  to  institute  governments  for  themselves, 
under  their  own  authority,  and  that  without  loss  of 
time  ;  that  we  ought  to  declare  the  colonies  free,  sov 
ereign,  and  independent  states,  and  then  to  inform 
Great  Britain  that  we  were  willing  to  enter  into  ne 
gotiations  with  them  for  the  redress  of  all  grievances 
and  a  restoration  of  harmony  between  the  two  coun 
tries  upon  permanent  principles.  All  this  I  thought 
might  be  done  before  we  entered  into  any  connection, 
alliances,  or  negotiations  with  foreign  powers.  I 
was  also  for  informing  Great  Britain,  very  frankly, 
that  hitherto  we  were  free  ;  but,  if  the  war  should  be 
continued,  we  were  determined  to  seek  alliances  with 
'  France,  Spain,  and  any  other  power  of  Europe  that 
would  contract  with  us.  That  we  ought  immediately 
to  adopt  the  army  in  Cambridge  as  a  continental 
army,  to  appoint  a  general  and  all  other  officers,  take 
upon  ourselves  the  pay,  subsistence,  clothing,  arm 
ing,  and  munitions  of  the  troops.  This  is  a  concise 
sketch  of  the  plan  which  I  thought  the  only  reason 
able  one ;  and  from  conversation  with  the  members 
of  Congress  I  was  then  convinced,  and  have  been 
ever  since  convinced,  that  it  was  the  general  sense 
of  a  considerable  majority  of  that  body.  This  sys 
tem  of  measures  I  publidy  and  privately  avowed 
without  reserve." 


THE  SECOND  SESSION  OF  CONGRESS.         91 

It  is  evident  from  some  contemporary  state 
ments  that,  at  least  in  the  early  days  of  the 
session,  these  avowals  were  not  quite  so  open 
and  unreserved  as  Mr.  Adams  afterward  re 
membered  them  to  have  been.  Though  it  is 
true  that  the  chief  parts  of  this  plan  were  soon 
adopted,  and  though  it  is  altogether  credible 
that  the  feeling  which  led  to  that  adoption  was 
already  very  perceptible  to  Mr.  Adams  in  his 
private  interviews  with  individual  delegates, 
yet  it  is  tolerably  certain  that,  had  he  exploded 
such  a  box  of  startling  fireworks  in  the  face  of 
Congress  during  the  first  days  of  its  sitting, 
the  outcry  and  scattering  would  have  stricken 
him  with  sore  dismay.  Fortunately,  though 
burning  with  impatience,  he  was  more  politic 
than  he  afterwards  described  himself,  and  he 
had  sufficient  good  sense  to  wait  a  little  until 
events  brought  the  delegates  face  to  face  with 
issues  which  the  moderatists  could  rationally 
and  consistently  decide  only  in  one  way.  He 
did  not  like  the  waiting,  he  chafed  and  growled, 
but  he  wisely  endured,  nevertheless,  until  his 
hour  came.  When  and  how  that  hour  ad 
vanced  is  now  to  be  seen. 

(Mr.  Dickinson  had  not  carried  his  motion 
for  a  second  memorial  to  King  George  without 
paying  a  price  for  rh ;  Congress  simultaneously 
declared  that,  by  reason  of  grave  doubt  as  to 


92  JOHN  ADAMS. 

the  success  of  that  measure,  it  was  expedient 
to  put  the  colonies  chiefly  threatened,  espe 
cially  New  York,  into  a  condition  for  defense. 
This  was  a  practical  measure,  bringing  some 
comfort  to  the  party  of  action.  Soon  also  there 
came  from  the  Massachusetts  Assembly  a  let 
ter,  setting  forth  the  condition  of  that  province 
now  so  long  without  any  real  government,  and 
asking  "  explicit  advice  respecting  the  taking 
up  and  exercising  the  powers  of  civil  govern 
ment."  This  missive  presented  a  problem 
which  many  gentlemen  would  gladly  have 
shunned,  or  at  least  postponed,  but  which  could 
be  shunned  and  postponed  no  longer  ;  a  large 
and  busy  population  could  not  exist  for  an  in 
definite  period  without  civil  authorities  of  some 
sort ;  the  people  of  Massachusetts  Bay  had  al 
ready  been  in  this  anomalous  condition  for  a 
long  while,  and  though  they  had  done  wonder 
fully  well,  yet  the  strain  was  not  much  longer 
to  be  endured.  If  Congress,  thus  supplicated, 
refused  to  take  some  action  in  the  premises,  it 
would  be  open  to  the  charge  of  abdicating  its 
function  of  adviser  to  the  colonies,  and  so  would 
lose  a  large  part  of  its  raison  d'etre.  The  let 
ter  was  referred  to  a  committee ;  and  upon 
their  report  a  long  debate  ensued.  The  Massa 
chusetts  delegates  were  much  consulted,  and  at 
last,  on  June  9,  Congress  replied  that,  "  no 


THE  SECOND  SESSION  OF  CONGRESS.         93 

obedience  being  due  to  the  act  of  Parliament 
for  altering  tlieir""charter,  nor  to  any  officers 
who  endeavor  to  subvert  jthat  charter^  letters 
should  be  written  to  the  people;  in  the  several 
towns  requeuing-  them  to  elect  representatives 
to  an  assembly,  \vli<>  should  in  their  turn  elect 
a  ccmncil,  and  these  two  bodies  should  exercise 
the  powers  of  government  for  the  time/' 

This  was  very  good,  but  a  much  more  im 
portant  matter  was  still  to  be  disposed  of. 
From  the  beginning  of  the  session  it  had  been 
a  main  object  with  Mr.  Adams  to  induce  the 
Congress  to  adopt,  so  to  speak,  the  army  which 
was  engaged  in  besieging  the  British  forces  in 
Boston.  At  present  this  extraordinary  martial 
assemblage  was  in  the  most  singular  condition 
ever  presented  by  such  a  body.  It  could  not 
be  said  that  the  officers  commanded  by  any 
lawful  title  or  authority,  or  that  the  rank  and 
file  obeyed  otherwise  than  by  virtue  of  their 
own  willingness  to  do  so.  .The  whole  existing 
condition  of  military  as  well  as  of  civil  af 
fairs  was  based  upon  little  more  than  general 
understanding  and  mutual  acquiescence?  Mr. 
Adams  was  profoundly  resolved  that  the  army 
sKouliTBecome  the  army  of  Congress,  for  non 
descript  as  that  body  still  was,  yet  at  least  the 
army,  when  adopted  by  it,  would  become  more 
the  army  of  all  the  provinces  and  less  that  of 


94  JOHN  ADAMS. 

Massachusetts  alone  than  it  might  now  be  de 
scribed.  He  was  overwhelmed  with  letters  both 
from  influential  civilians  of  Massachusetts  and 
from  the  principal  military  officers,  imploring 
him  in  urgent  terms  to  carry  through  this 
measure.  It  was  no  easy  matter;  for,  besides 
the  inevitable  opposition  of  the  moderates  and 
conciliationists,  he  had  to  encounter  many  per 
sonal  jealousies  and  ambitions.  The  adoption 
of  the  army  involved  the  nomination  of  a  com- 
mander-in-chief,  and  of  subordinate  generals, 
and  there  were  many  who  either  wished  these 
positions,  or  had  friends  and  favorite  aspirants 
whose  possible  pretensions  they  espoused.  Mr. 
Adams  found  that  he  could  make  little  prog 
ress  towards  unanimity  by  private  interviews, 
arguments,  and  appeals.  Accordingly,  at  last, 
he  came  to  a  very  characteristic  decision.  More 
than  once  in  his  life  he  showed  his  taste  and 
capacity  for  a  coup  d^tat  in  politics.  When  he 
dealt  such  a  blow,  he  did  it  in  the  most  effect 
ual  way,  vigorously,  and  without  warning  ;  thus 
he  confounded  his  opponents  and  carried  his 
point.  We  shall  see  more  than  one  other  strik 
ing  instance  of  this  sudden  strategy  and  impet 
uous  courage,  in  his  future  career.  Now,  find 
ing  not  only  that  he  could  not  control  the 
delegation  from  his  own  state,  but  that  even  the 
gentlemen  from  Virginia  would  not  agree  to 


THE  SECOND  SESSION  OF  CONGRESS.        05 

unite  upon  their  own  fellow  citizen,  "  full  of 
anxieties  concerning  these  confusions,  and  ap 
prehending  daily "  the  receipt  of  distressing 
news  from  Boston,  despairing  of  effecting  an 
agreement  by  personal  persuasion,  but  recog 
nizing  that  here  again  was  a  case  where  the 
issue,  if  forced,  could  have  but  one  conclusion, 
he  one  morning,  just  before  going  into  the  hall, 
announced  to  Samuel  Adams  that  he  had  re 
solved  to  take  a  step  which  would  compel  his 
colleagues  from  Massachusetts  and  all  the  other 
delegates  "  to  declare  themselves  for  or  against 
something.  I  am  determined  this  morning  to 
make  a  direct  motion  that  Congress  should 
adopt  the  army  before  Boston,  and  appoint 
Colonel  Washington  commander  of  it.  Mr. 
Adams  seemed  to  think  very  seriously  of  it,  but 
said  nothing." 

The  move  was  made  with  the  same  decisive 
promptitude  which  marked  this  divulging  of 
the  intention.  Upon  the  opening  of  that  day's 
session  Mr.  Adams  obtained  the  floor,  and 
made  the  motion  for  the  adoption.  He  then 
proceeded  briefly  to  sketch  the  imperative  ne 
cessities  of  the  time,  and  closed  with  a  eulogy 
upon  a  certain  gentleman  from  Virginia,  "  who 
could  unite  the  cordial  exertions  of  all  the  col 
onies  better  than  any  other  person."  There 
was  no  doubt  who  was  signified;  even  the 


96  JOHN  ADAMS. 

modest  gentleman  himself  could  not  pretend  to 
be  ignorant,  and  hastily  sought  refuge  in  the 
library.  Washington  was  not  the  only  person 
who  was  startled  out  of  his  composure  by  this 
sudden  thrusting  forward  of  a  proposal  which 
heretofore  had  only  been  a  subject  of  private, 
and  by  no  means  harmonious  discussion.  Mr. 
Hancock,  in  the  president's  chair,  could  not 
conceal  his  mortification,  for  he  had  his  own 
aspirations  in  this  same  direction.  Many  gen 
tlemen  expressed  doubts  as  to  the  propriety  of 
placing  this  Southerner  at  the  head  of  an  army 
in  New  England,  chiefly  composed  of  New  Eng 
land  troops,  and  now  commanded  by  New  Eng 
land  officers  apparently  equal  to  their  func 
tions.  Mr.  Pendleton,  though  himself  from 
Virginia,  was  especially  prominent  in  this  pres 
entation  of  the  case;  so  was  Mr.  Sherman  of 
Connecticut ;  and  even  Mr.  Adams's  own  col 
league,  Mr.  Gushing,  allowed  it  to  be  under 
stood  that  he  was  of  the  same  opinion.  But 
Mr.  Adams  had  dealt  a  master-stroke.  There 
must  be  some  wriggling  of  individuals,  who 
might  thereafter  remain  his  enemies  ;  but  of 
enemies  he  was  never  afraid.  It  was  inevita 
ble  that  he  should  carry  his  point,  that  Con 
gress  should  accept  his  measure  ;  so  he  had  the 
satisfaction  of  seeing  the  delegates,  one  by  one, 
many  pleased,  some  doubtful,  a  few  sorely 


THE  SECOND  SESSION  OF  CONGRESS.         97 

grumbling,  fall  into  line  behind  the  standard 
which  he  had  so  audaciously  planted.  A  little 
work  was  shrewdly  done  outside  the  hall,  a  few 
days  were  prudently  suffered  to  elapse  for  ef 
fervescence  ;  the  reluctant  ones  were  given 
sufficient  opportunity  to  see  that  they  were 
helpless,  and  then  upon  the  formal  motion  of 
Thomas  Johnson  of  Maryland,  George  Wash 
ington  was  unanimously  chosen  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  united  forces  of  the  colonies.  On 
June  17,  the  day  of  the  gallant  battle  of  Bun 
ker's  Hill,  Adams  wrote  in  joyous  triumph  to 
his  wife :  "  I  can  now  inform  you  that  the 
Congress  have  made  choice  of  the  modest  and 
virtuous,  the  amiable,  generous,  and  brave 
George  Washington,  esquire,  to  be  general  of 
the  American  army.  This  appointment  will 
have  a  great  effect  in  cementing  and  securing 
the  union  of  these  colonies."  With  some  nat 
ural  anxiety  to  have  his  action  justified  by 
the  good  acceptance  of  his  fellow-citizens  of 
Massachusetts,  he  adds  :  "  I  hope  the  people 
of  our  province  will  treat  the  general  with  all 
that  confidence  and  affection,  that  politeness 
and  respect,  which  is  due  to  one  of  the  most 
important  characters  in  the  world.  'The  liber 
ties  of  America  depend  upon  him  in  a  great  de 
gree."  The  next  day  he  wrote,  still  in  the  high 
est  spirits :  "  This  Congress  are  all  as  deep  as 


98  JOHN  ADAMS. 

the  delegates  from  the  Massachusetts,  and  the 
whole  continent  as  forward  as  Boston.  We 
shall  have  a  redress  of  grievances,  or  an  as 
sumption  of  all  the  powers  of  government,  leg 
islative,  executive,  and  judicial,  throughout  the 
whole  continent,  very  soon."  He  had  been 
conducting  an  arduous  struggle,  he  had  gained 
two  points,  deserving  to  be  regarded  not  only 
as  essential  but  as  finally  decisive  of  the  suc 
cess  of  his  policy.  He  chiefly  had  induced 
Congress  __tq  recominencT  Massachusetts  J&-SS- 
tablish  a  rebellious^government ;  he  had  com 
pelled  Congress  to  adopt  an  army  conducting 
open  war  against  King  George.  Thus,  as  he 
sald^Tierhad  got  all  the  other  provinces  as  deep 
in  rebellion  as  his  own  Massachusetts,  and  the 
two  acts  logically  involved  independence. 

Concerning  this  nomination  of  Washington, 
Mr.  C.  F.  Adams  says  :  "  In  the  life  of  Mr. 
Adams,  more  than  in  that  of  most  men,  occur 
instances  of  this  calm  but  decided  assumption 
of  a  fearful  responsibility  in  critical  moments. 
But  what  is  still  more  remarkable  is,  that  they 
were  attended  with  a  uniformly  favorable  re 
sult."  Without  now  discussing  the  other  in 
stances,  it  may  be  admitted  that  the  present 
one  deserves  even  this  somewhat  magniloquent 
laudation.  The  measure  brought  the  possi 
bility  of  a  hearty  union  of  the  colonies  in  real 


THE  SECOND  SESSION  OF  CONGRESS.         99 

war  to  a  sharp,  immediate,  practical  test.  It 
was  the  extreme  of  audacity  for  this  one  man 
to  stand  forth  alone,  having  secured  no  support- 
ers,  apparently  not  having  even  felt  the  pulse 
of  New  England,  to  propose  that  there  should 
be  set  over  an  army  of  New  England  troops, 
led  by  New  England  officers,  encamped  on 
New  England  soil,  supported  by  New  England 
resources,  fighting  in  what  was  thus  far  chiefly 
if  not  solely  a  New  England  quarrel,  and  which 
had  met  with  no  reverses,  a  commander  from 
a  distant,  and,  in  a  proper  sense,  even  a  foreign 
state.  Had  the  New  Englanders  received  this 
slightly-known  Southerner  with  dissatisfaction, 
a  more  unfortunate  and  fatal  move  could  not 
have  been  made.  In  truth  the  responsibility 
assumed  was  sufficiently  great !  But  the  stake 
to  be  won  was  the  union  of  the  thirteen  prov 
inces,  and  the  irrevocable  assurance  that  the 
quarrel  to  its  end  was  to  be  not  that  of  one  but 
that  of  all.  Unless  this  stake  could  be  won 
all  must  be  lost.  But  to  determine  when  and 
how  to  play  the  test  card  in  so  momentous  a 
game  called  for  the  highest  nerve.  Adams 
acted  upon  an  implicit  faith  in  the  liberal  in 
telligence  of  the  people  of  his  region.  The  re 
sult  proved  his  thorough  comprehension  of 
them,  and  set  the  seal  of  wisdom  upon  his  fear 
less  assumption  of  one  of  the  greatest  political 


100  JOHN  ADAMS. 

risks  recorded  in  the  world's  history.  It  was 
to  this  sufficiency  on  his  part  for  an  emergency, 
instinctively  felt  rather  than  plainly  formu 
lated,  that  Adams  owed  in  his  lifetime  and  has 
owed  since  his  death  a  great  respect  and  ad 
miration  among  the  people,  as  being  a  strong, 
virile  man,  who  could  be  trusted  at  the  crucial 
moment  in  spite  of  all  sorts  of  somewhat  igno 
ble  foibles  and  very  inexcusable  blunders. 

As  if  to  encourage  men  of  moderate  capacity 
by  showing  that  no  one  is  always  and  evenly 
wise,  we  have  now  to  see  in  a  small  matter  the 
reverse  of  that  sagacious  judgment  just  dis 
played  in  a  great  matter.  Throughout  life 
Mr.  Adams  startled  his  friends  by  his  petty 
mistakes  not  less  constantly  than  he  astounded 
his  enemies  by  his  grand  actions.  Repeatedly 
he  got  into  trouble  through  an  uncontrollable 
propensity  to  act  without  forethought,  upon 
sudden  impulse.  This  was  a  poor  development 
of  the  same  trait  which,  in  happier  moments, 
led  to  such  prompt,  daring,  and  fortunate  move 
ments  as  the  nomination  of  Washington.  A 
few  weeks  after  that  event  it  happened  that  a 
young  man,  whose  patriotism  had  been  under 
a  cloud,  was  about  to  leave  Philadelphia  for 
the  neighborhood  of  Boston.  Opportunities  for 
sending  letters  by  safe  hands  being  then  gladly 
availed  of,  this  person  begged  to  be  allowed  to 


THE  SECOND  SESSION  OF  CONGRESS.      101 

carry  home  some  letters  for  Mr.  Adams.  But 
Adams  had  none  written,  and  declined  the  of 
fer.  Then  the  youth  became  importunate, 
urging  that  to  carry  only  a  few  lines  from  Mr. 
Adams  would  set  right  his  injured  reputation. 
Foolishly  Mr.  Adams  yielded,  or  rather  the 
folly  lay  in  what  he  wrote.  By  persons  in; 
whom  he  could  place  perfect  confidence  he  had , 
for  months  been  sending  the  most  guarded 
communications  ;  now  he  seized  this  dubious^ 
chance  to  put  in  writing  remarks  which  a  pru 
dent  statesman  would  not  have  uttered  in  con 
versation  without  sealing  every  keyhole.  To 
General  Warren  he  began  :  "  I  am  determined 
to  write  freely  to  you  this  time,"  and  thor 
oughly  did  he  fulfill  this  determination.  The 
other  letter  to  his  wife  was  a  little  less  dis 
tinctly  outspoken  ;  but  between  the  two  the  do 
ings  and  the  plans  of  Adams  and  his  advanced 
friends  in  Congress  were  boldly  sketched,  and 
some  very  harsh  remarks  were  indulged  in  con 
cerning  delegates  who  were  not  fully  in  har 
mony  with  him.  In  Rhode  Island  the  British 
intercepted  the  bearer  and  captured  the  letters, 
which  were  at  once  published  and  widely  dis 
tributed  on  both  sides  of  the  water.  They 
were  construed  as  plainly  showing  that  some 
at  least  among  the  Americans  were  aiming  at 
independence  ;  and  they  made  a  great  turmoil, 


102  JOHN  ADAMS. 

stimulating  resentment  in  the  mother  country, 
alarming  the  moderates  in  the  provinces,  and 
corroborating  the  extreme  charges  of  the  tories. 
It  was  afterward  insisted  that  they  did  more 
good  than  harm,  because  they  caused  lines  to 
be  drawn  sharply  and  hastened  the  final  issue. 
Adams  himself  sought  consolation  in  this  view 
of  the  matter  in  his  autobiography.  But  if 
this  effect  was  really  produced,  yet  it  could 
not  have  been  foreseen,  and  it  therefore  con 
stituted  no  excuse  for  Mr.  Adams's  reckless 
ness,  which  had  been  almost  incredibleT" 

Neither  did  this  dimly  visible  result  act  as 
an  immediate  shelter  against  the  flight  of  evils 
from  this  Pandora's  box.  To  Warren,  Adams 
had  said :  "A  certain  great  fortune  and  pid 
dling  genius,  whose  fame  has  been  trumpeted 
so  loudly,  has  given  a  silly  cast  to  our  whole 
doings."  He  closed  the  letter  to  his  wife  with 
this  unfinished  sentence :  "  The  fidgets,  the 
whims,  the  caprice,  the  vanity,  the  superstition, 
the  irritability  of  some  of  us  are  enough  to  — ;  " 
words  failed  him  for  the  expression  of  his  dis 
gust.  "No  mortal  tale  can  equal  it,"  as  he 
had  already  said.  The  "  piddling  genius  "  was 
easily  recognized  as  Mr.  Dickinson,  and  the  un 
fortunate  victims  of  the  fidgets,  etc.,  were  of 
course  the  conciliationists.  Widespread  wrath 
naturally  ensued ;  and  Mr.  Adams  was  made 


THE  SECOND  SESSION  OF  CONGRESS.      103 

for  a  while  extremely  uncomfortable.  Dickin 
son  cut  him ;  many  more  treated  him  little 
better;  he  walked  the  streets  a  marked  and 
unpopular  man,  shunned,  distrusted,  and  dis 
liked  by  many.  He  put  the  best  face  he  could 
upon  it,  and  said  that  the  letters  did  not  amount 
to  so  very  much,  after  all  the  talk  about  them ; 
but  it  is  plain  enough  that  he  would  have  been 
glad  to  recall  them.  If  they  were  nothing 
worse,  at  least  they  were  crying  evidence  of  his 
incorrigible  and  besetting  weakness.  He  lived 
to  be  an  old  man  and  had  his  full  share  of  se-  I  N 
vere  lessons,  but  neither  years  nor  mortifica-  <  f\ 
tions  could  ever  teach  him  to  curb  his  hasty,  > 
ungovernable  tongue.  The  little  member  was 
too  much  for  him  to  the  end,  great,  wise,  and 
strong-willed  as  he  was. 


CHAPTER  V. 

INDEPENDENCE. 

CONGRESS  adjourned  for  the  summer  vaca 
tion  of  1775,  which  enabled  Mr.  Adams  to 
spend  August  at  home.  But  during  nearly  all 
this  brief  recess  he  was  busy  with  the  provin 
cial  executive  council,  and  got  little  rest.  On 
the  last  day  of  the  month  he  set  out  again  for 
Philadelphia,  where  he  arrived  in  the  middle 
of  September.  In  addition  to  public  cares  he 
was  for  many  weeks  harassed  with  ill  news 
from  home.  Dysentery  became  epidemic  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Boston  during  this  sum 
mer  and  autumn.  His  brother  had  died  of  it 
before  he  left  home  ;  his  wife's  mother  died  in 
September ;  his  wife  herself  and  three  of  his 
four  children  were  in  turn  stricken  with  the 
disease.  Besides  these  troubles,  the  complex 
ion  of  Congress  gave  him  much  disquietude. 
During  the  recess  a  reaction  had  set  in :  or  at 
best  the  momentum  acquired  prior  to  the  ad 
journment  had  been  wholly  lost.  From  the 
first  secret  committee  Massachusetts  was  con- 


INDEPENDENCE.  105 

spicuously  omitted.  Dickinson,  Deane,  and 
Jay,  conciliationists  all,  seemed  to  lead  a  ma 
jority,  and  to  give  color  to  the  actions  of  the 
whole  body.  Those  unfortunate  letters  of  Mr. 
Adams  had  been  efficiently  used  by  the  mod 
erates  to  alarm  the  many  who  dreaded  political 
convulsion,  prolonged  war,  and  schemes  for  in 
dependence.  Even  old  friends  and  coadjutors 
of  the  detected  correspondent  now  looked  coldly 
on  him,  since  intimacy  with  him  had  become 
more  than  ever  compromising.  Yet  he  stood 
stoutly  to  his  purposes. 

"  I  assure  you,"  he  wrote  to  his  wife,  "  the  letters 
had  no  such  bad  effects  as  the  tories  intended  and  as 
some  of  our  short-sighted  whigs  apprehended  ;  so  far 
otherwise  that  I  see  and  hear  every  day  fresh  proofs 
that  everybody  is  coming  fast  into  every  political 
sentiment  contained  in  them.  I  assure  you  I  could 
mention  compliments  passed  upon  them,  and  if  a  se 
rious  decision  could  be  had  upon  them,  the  public 
voice  would  be  found  in  their  favor." 

More  and  more  zealously  he  was  giving  his 
whole  heart  and  soul,  his  life  and  prospects  to 
the  great  cause.  Almost  every  day  he  was  en 
gaged  in  debate,  almost  every  day  he  had  some 
thing  to  say  about  instituting  state  governments, 
about  the  folly  of  petitions  to  the  king  and  of 
conciliatory  measures.  A  paragraph  from  one 
of  his  letters  to  his  wife,  October  7,  1775, 


106  JOHN  ADAMS. 

though  long,  is  worth  quoting,  to  show  the  in 
tense  and  lofty  spirit  which  animated  him  in 
these  critical  days  :  — 

"  The  situation  of  things  is  so  alarming  that  it  is 
our  duty  to  prepare  our  minds  and  hearts  for  every 
event,  even  the  worst.  From  my  earliest  entrance 
into  life  I  have  been  engaged  in  the  public  cause  of 
America ;  and  from  first  to  last  I  have  had  upon  my 
mind  a  strong  impression  that  things  would  be 
wrought  up  to  their  present  crisis.  I  saw  from  the 
beginning  that  the  controversy  was  of  such  a  nature 
that  it  never  would  be  settled,  and  every  day  con 
vinces  me  more  and  more.  This  has  been  the  source 
of  all  the  disquietude  of  my  life.  It  has  lain  down 
and  risen  up  with  me  these  twelve  years.  The 
thought  that  we  might  be  driven  to  the  sad  necessity 
of  breaking  our  connection  with  Great  Britain,  ex 
clusive  of  the  carnage  and  destruction  which  it  was 
easy  to  see  must  attend  the  separation,  always  gave 
me  a  great  deal  of  grief.  And  even  now  I  would 
gladly  retire  from  public  life  forever,  renounce  jail 
chance  for  profits  or  honors  from  the  public,  nay,  I 
would  cheerfully  contribute  my  little  property,  to  ob 
tain  peaj3e  and  liberty.  But  all  these  must  go  and 
myTife  too^tfeTore  I  can  surrender  the  right  of  my 
country  to  a  free  Constitution.  I  dare  not  consent 
to  it.  I  should  be  the  most  miserable  of  mortals  ever 
after,  whatever  honors  or  emoluments  might  sur 
round  me." 

Solemn   words  of    faith   and   self-devotion ! 


INDEPENDENCE.  107 

Yet  the  man  who  spoke  them  was  still  a  subject 
of  Great  Britain,  a  rebel.  No  wonder  t,hat  he 
chafed  at  the  names,  and  longed  rather  to  be 
called  a  free  citizen  and  a  patriot. 

In  spite  of  the  hostility  which  he  had  excited, 
he  was  acquiring  great  influence.  His  energy 
and  capacity  for  business  compelled  recognition 
at  a  time  when  there  was  more  work  to  be 
done  than  hands  to  do  it.  The  days  of  feast 
ing  and  of  comfortable  discussion  at  the  tables 
of  Philadelphia  magnates  belonged  to  the  past. 
Hard  labor  had  succeeded  to  those  banquetings. 
Adams  thus  sketches  his  daily  round  in  the  au 
tumn  of  1775  :  "  I  am  really  engaged  in  con 
stant  business  from  seven  to  ten  in  the  morning 
in  committee,  from  ten  to  four  in  Congress, 
and  from  six  to  ten  again  in  committee."  The 
incessant  toiling  injured  by  degrees  his  consti 
tution,  and  within  a  few  months  he  began  to 
fear  that  he  should  break  down  before  his  two 
great  objects,  independence  and  a  confedera 
tion,  could  be  attained,  at  the  present  creeping 
pace,  as  it  seemed  to  him. 

This  lukewarmness,  so  prevalent  this  autumn, 
struck  him  the  more  painfully  because  he  had 
just  come  from  a  neighborhood  where  the 
aroused  people  were  waging  real  war,  and  had 
set  their  hot  hands  to  the  plough  with  a  dogged 
determination  to  drive  it  to  the  end  of  the  fur- 


108  JOHN  ADAMS. 

row,  The  change  to  the  tepid  patriotism  of  the 
Quaker  City  embittered  him.  To  his  diary  he 
confided  sojue  very  abusive  fleers  at  the  man 
ners  and  appearance  of  many  of  his  co-delegates. 
"  There  appears  to  me,"  he  says,  "  a  remark 
able  want  of  judgment  in  some  of  our  mem 
bers."  Chase  he  describes  as  violent,  boister 
ous,  tedious  upon  frivolous  points.  So,  too,  is  E. 
Rutledge,  who  is  likewise  an  uncouth,  ungrace 
ful  speaker,  with  offensive  habits  of  shrugging 
his  shoulders,  distorting  his  body,  wriggling  his 
head,  rolling  his  eyes,  and  speaking  through 
his  nose.  John  Rutledge  also  "dodges  his 
head"  disagreeably  ;  and  both  "spout  out  their 
language  in  a  rough  and  rapid  torrent,  but 
without  much  force  or  effect."  Dyer,  though 
with  some  good  qualities,  is  long-winded,  round 
about,  obscure,  cloudy,  very  talkative,  and  very 
tedious.  Sherman's  air  is  the  "  reverse  of 
grace "  when  he  keeps  his  hands  still,  but 
when  he  gesticulates  "  it  is  stiffness  and  awk 
wardness  itself,  rigid  as  starched  linen  or  buck 
ram,  awkward  as  a  junior  bachelor  or  sopho 
more,"  so  that  Hogarth's  genius  could  have 
invented  nothing  worse.  Bad  as  Sherman  is, 
Dickinson's  "  air,  gait,  and  action  are  not  much 
more  elegant."'  Thus  wrote  the  father  of 
that  bitter-tongued  son,  who,  it  is  clear,  took 
his  ruthless  sarcasm  and  censoriousness  as  an 


INDEPENDENCE.  109 

honest  inheritance.  But  the  words  were  only 
an  impetuous  outburst  of  irritation  due  to 
a  passing  discontent,  which  disappeared  alto 
gether  soon  afterward,  when  the  business  of 
Congress  began  to  run  more  to  the  writer's 
taste.  There  had  to  be  some  private  safety- 
vent,  when  he  must  so  repress  himself  in  public. 
"  Zeal  and  fire  and  activity  and  enterprise," 
he  acknowledged,  "  strike  my  imagination  too 
much.  I  am  obliged  to  be  constantly  on  my 
guard,  yet  the  heat  within  will  burst  forth  at 
times."  Very  soon,  however,  the  stern  logic 
of  facts,  the  irresistible  pressure  of  events  con 
trolled  the  action  of  this  session  of  Congress 
not  less  conclusively  than  the  preceding.  Men 
might  prattle  of  olive-branches  and  the  restora 
tion  of  harmony,  but  scarcely  concealed  behind 
the  thin  fog  raised  by  such  language  stood  the 
solid  substance  of  a  veritable  rebellion.  An 
American  army  was  besieging  a  British  army  ; 
governments,  not  rooted  in  royal  or  parliamen 
tary  authority,  were  established  in  several  prov- 
rQces.  The  Congress  which  had  adopted  that 
army,  given  it  a  commander,  and  provided  for 
its  maintenance,  which  also  had  promoted  the  or-  • 
ganization  of  those  governments,  was  a  congre 
gation  of  rebels,  if  ever  there  were  rebels  in  the 
world.  Dickinson  and  Deane  were  as  liable  to 
be  hanged  as  were  the  Adamses  and  the  Lees  ; 


110  JOHN  ADAMS. 

and  Washington  himself  was  in  scarcely  more 
danger  than  any  of  these  civilians.  In  this 
condition  of  affairs  advance  was  inevitable.  All 
history  shows  that  the  unresting  pressure  of  a 
body  of  able  men,  resolutely  striving  for  a  def 
inite  end,  furnishes  a  motive  power  which  no 
inertia  of  a  reluctant  mass  can  permanently 
resist.  Progression  gains  point  after  point  till 
the  conclusion  is  so  assured  that  resistance 
ceases.  A  fresh  indicatioii^pf _ihis  truth  was 
now  seen  in  the  movement  to  establish  a  fleet 
at  the  continental  charge.  "  This  naked  prop 
osition,"  Mr.  C.  F.  Adams  tells  us,  "was  at 
once  met  with  a  storm  of  ridicule,"  in  which 
some  delegates  joined  who  might  have  been 
looked  for  on  the  other  side.  But  the  tempest 
spent  itself  in  a  few  days,  and  then  a  commit 
tee  was  appointed,  charged  to  procure  vessels 
to  be  placed  under  the  control  of  Washington. 
Within  less  than  two  months  a  real  navy  was 
in  course  of  active  preparation.  Mr.  Adams 
was  a  member  of  the  committee  and  set  zeal 
ously  about  the  work ;  he  sought  information 
on  all  sides  and  exhaustively ;  and  besides  the 
practical  equipment  and  manning  of  the  vessels, 
he,  was  soon  ready  with  a  maritime  code. 

About  the  same  time  an  application  JErom 
New  Hampshire  for  advice  concerning  its  inter 
nal  policy  was  answered  by  a  recommendation 


INDEPENDENCE.  Ill 

for  calling  a  "  full  and  free  representation  of  the 
jjeogle ;  "  and  with  advice  that  "  the  represen 
tatives,  if  they  think  it  necessary,  establish 
such  a  form  of  government  as  in  their  judg 
ment  will  best  produce  the  happiness  of  the 
people  during  the  continuance  of  the  present 
dispute."  The  ease  with  which  this  resolution 
passed,  almost  unchallenged  by  the  Dickinson 
party,  was  very  encouraging.  During  this 
autumn  also  was  made  the  first  effort  to  organ 
ize  foreign  embassies.  Mr.  Adams  described 
this  endeavor  as  follows :  — 

"In  consequence  of  many  conversations  between 
Mr.  Chase  and  me  he  made  a  motion  .  .  .  for  send 
ing  ambassadors  to  France.  I  seconded  the  motion. 
You  know  the  state  of  tfie  nerves  of  Congress  at 
that  time.  .  .  .  Whether  the  effect  of  the  motion  re 
sembled  the  shock  of  electricity,  of  mesmerism,  or 
of  galvanism  the  most  exactly,  I  leave  you  philoso 
phers  to  determine,  but  the  grimaces,  the  agitations 
and  convulsions  were  very  great." 

Vehement  debates  ensued,  of  his  own  share 
in  which  Mr.  Adams  says  :  "  I  was  remarkably 
cool  and,  for  me,  unusually  eloquent.  On  no 
occasion,  before  or  after,  did  I  ever  make  a 
greater  impression  on  Congress."  "  Attention 
and  approbation  were  marked  on  every  counte 
nance."  Many  gentlemen  came  to  pay  him 
their  compliments ;  and  even  Dickinson  praised 


112  JOHN  ADAMS. 

him.  Nevertheless  his  oratory  failed  to  secure 
the  practical  reward  of  success ;  the  step  was 
too  far  in  advance  of  the  present  position  of  a 
majority  of  members.  There  were  "many 
motions"  and  much  "tedious  discussion,"  but 
"  after  all  our  argumentation  the  whole  termi 
nated  in  a  committee  of  secret  correspondence." 
So  Mr.  Adams  was  again  relegated  to  the  odi 
ous  duty  6f  waiting  patiently.  But  he  and  his 
abettors  had  insured  ultimate  success ;  indeed, 
it  was  only  a  question  how  far  the  colonies 
would  soon  go  in  this  direction.  It  even  ap 
peared  that  there  were  some  persons  who  de 
sired  to  push  foreign  connections  to  a  point 
much  beyond  that  at  which  Mr.  Adams  would 
have  rested.  Thus,  Patrick  Henry  was  in  favor 
o|  jalliances,  even  if  they  must  be  bought  by 
concessions  of  territory ;  whereas  Adams  de 
sired  only  treaties  of  commerce,  advising  that 
"  we  should  separate  ourselves  as  far  as  possible 
and  as  long  as  possible  from  all  European  poli 
tics  and  wars."  He  anticipated  the  "Monroe 
Doctrine." 

On  December  9,  1775,  Mr.  Adams  set  out  on 
a  short  visit  to  Massachusetts.  He  was  anx 
ious  to  learn  accurately  the  present  temper  of 
the  people.  While  there,  besides  advising 
Washington  upon  an  important  question  con 
cerning  the  extent  of  his  military  jurisdiction, 


F 


C 

INDEPENDENCE.  113 

he  also  arranged  a  personal  matter.  He*k3tad 
lately  been  appointed  chief  justice  of  the  prov 
ince,  apparently  not  with  the  expectation  of 
securing  his  actual  presence  on  the  bench,  but 
for  the  sake  of  the  strength  and  prestige  which 
his  name  would  give  to  the  newly-constituted 
tribunal  of  justice.  He  now  accepted  the  office 
upon  the  clear  understanding  that  he  should 
not  take  his  seat  unless  upon  some  pressing 
occasion. 

On  January  24,  1776,  having  found  both  the 
leaders  and  the  people  in  full  accord  with  his 
own  sentiments,  he  set  out  in  company  with 
Elbriclge  Gerry,  on  his  return  to  Philadelphia. 
The  two  carried  with  them  some  important  in 
structions  to  the  Massachusetts  delegates,  pos 
sibly  the  fruit  of  Mr.  Adams's  visit,  or  at  least 
matured  and  ripened  beneath  the  heat  of  his 
presence.  These  gentlemen  were  bidden  to 
urge  Congress  "  to  concert,  direct,  and  order 
such  further  measures  as  shall  to  them  appear 
best  calculated  for  the  establishment  of  right 
and  liberty  to  the  American  colonies,  upon  a 
basis  permanent  and  secure  against  the  power 
and  art  of  the  British  administration,  and 
guarded  against  any  future  encroachments  of 
their  enemies." 

But  again  the  change  from  the  patriotic  at 
mosphere  of  Massachusetts  to  the  tamer  cli- 


114  JOHN  ADAMS. 

mate  of  Philadelphia  dispirited  Adams  seri 
ously.  He  wrote  home,  February  11,  to  his 
wife :  "  There  is  a  deep  anxiety,  a  kind  of 
thoughtful  melancholy,  and  in  some  a  lowness 
of  spirits  approaching  to  despondency,  prevail 
ing  through  the  southern  colonies  at  present." 
But  he  had  at  last  learned  to  value  these  inter 
missions  correctly ;  he  had  seen  them  before, 
even  in  Massachusetts,  and  he  recognized  them 
as  transitory.  "  In  this  or  a  similar  condition  we 
shall  remain,  I  think,  until  late  in  the  spring, 
when  some  critical  event  will  take  place ;  per 
haps  sooner.  But  the  arbiter  of  events  .  .  . 
only  knows  which  way  the  torrent  will  be  turned. 
Judging  by  experience,  by  probabilities  and  by 
all  appearances,  I  conclude  it  will  roll  on  to 
dominion  and  glory,  though  the  circumstances 
and  consequences  may  be  bloody."  This  was 
correct  forecasting ;  late  in  the  spring  of  1776 
a  very  "  critical  event "  did  happen,  entailing 
"  bloody  consequences,"  "  dominion,"  and 
"glory."  "In  such  great  changes  and  commo 
tions,"  he  says,  "  individuals  are  but  atoms.  It 
is  scarcely  worth  while  to  consider  what  the 
consequences  will  be  to  us."  The  "effects 
upon  present  and  future  millions,  and  millions 
of  millions,"  engage  his  thoughts.  The  fre 
quent  recurrence  of  such  expressions  indicates 
a  peculiar  sense  of  awe  on  his  part.  He  felt,  to 


INDEPENDENCE.  115 

a  degree  that  few  others  did  at  this  time,  that 
he  was  in  the  presence  of  momentous  events. 
The  prescience  of  a  shadowy  but  grand  future 
was  always  with  him,  and  impressed  him  like 
a  great  religious  mystery.  This  feeling  lent  a 
solemn  earnestness  to  his  conduct,  the  wonder 
ful  force  of  which  is  plainly  perceptible,  even 
to  this  day,  in  the  meagre  fragmentary  records 
which  have  come  down  to  us. 

As  the  winter  of  1776  advanced  it  could  no 
longer  be  doubted  that  the  American  provinces 
were  rapidly  nearing  an  avowed  independence. 
The"  middle  states  might  be  reluctant,  and 
their  representatives  in  Congress  might  set 
their  backs  towards  the  point  which  they  were 
approaching ;  but  they  approached  it  neverthe 
less.  They  were  like  men  on  a  raft,  carried  by 
an  irresistible  current  in  one  direction,  while  ob 
stinately  steering  in  the  other.  Adams  listened 
to  their  talk  with  contempt ;  he  had  no  sym 
pathy  with  their  unwillingness  to  assert  an  un 
deniable  fact.  "  I  cannot  but  despise,"  he  said, 
"  the  understanding  which  sincerely  expects  an 
honorable  peace,  for  its  credulity,  and  detest 
the  hypocritical  heart,  which  pretends  to  expect 
it  when  in  truth  it  does  not."  He  spoke  with 
bitter  irony  of  the  timid  ones  who  could  not 
bring  themselves  to  use  a  dreaded  phrase,  who 
were  appalled  by  a  word.  "  If  a  post  or  two 


116  JOHN  ADAMS. 

more  should  bring  you  unlimited  latitude  of 
trade  to  all  nations,  and  a  polite  invitation  to 
all  nations  to  trade  with  you,  take  care  that 
you  do  not  call  it  or  think  it  independency ;  no 
such  matter;  independency  is  a  hobgoblin  of 
such  frightful  mien  that  it  would  throw  a  deli 
cate  person  into  fits  to  look  it  in  the  face."  But 
by  degrees  he  was  able  plainly  to  see  the  fea 
tures  of  this  alarming  monster  drawing  nearer 
and  nearer.  He  beheld  an  unquestionable 
and  great  advance  by  the  other  provinces  to 
wards  the  faith  long  since  familiar  to  New  Eng 
land  minds.  "  The  newspapers  here  are  full  of 
free  speculations,  the  tendency  of  which  you 
will  easily  discover.  The  writers  reason  from 
topics  which  have  been  long  in  contemplation 
and  fully  understood  by  the  people  at  large  in 
New  England,  but  have  been  attended  to  in  the 
southern  colonies  only  by  gentlemen  of  free 
spirits  and  liberal  minds,  who  are  very  few." 

The  "  barons  of  the  south  "  and  the  proprie 
tary  interests  of  the  middle  states  had  long 
been  his  betes  noires.  "  All  our  misfprtunjeSjl' 
lie  said,  "  arise  from  a  single  source,  the  reluc 
tance  of  the  southern  colonies  to  a  republican 
government."  But  these  obstacles  were  begin 
ning  to  yield.  With  the  influence  of  Virginia 
in  favor  of  independence  it  was  a  question  of 
no  very  long  time  for  the  rest  of  the  southern 


INDEPENDENCE.  117 

provinces  to  fall  into  line,  even  at  the  sacrifice 
of  strong  prejudices.  Still  the  conciliationists, 
not  giving  up  the  struggle,  spread  reports  that 
commissioners  were  coming  from  the  king  on 
an  errand  of  peace  and  harmony.  Their  talk 
bred  vexatious  delay  and  aroused  Mr.  Adams's 
ire.  "  A  more  egregious  bubble,"  he  said, 
"  was  never  blown  up,  yet  it  has  gained  credit 
like  a  charm  not  only  with,  but  against,  the 
clearest  evidence."  "This  story  of  commis 
sioners  is  as  arrant  an  illusion  as  ever  was 
hatched  in  the  brain  of  an  enthusiast,  a  politi 
cian,  or  a  maniac.  I  have  laughed  at  it,  scolded 
at  it,  grieved  at  it,  and  I  don't  know  but  I  may 
at  an  unguarded  moment  have  rip'd  at  it.  But 
it  is  vain  to  reason  against  such  delusions." 

Still  among  these  obstructions  the  great  mo 
tive  power  worked  ceaselessly  and  carried 
steadily  forward  the  ship  of  state,  or  rather 
the  fleet  of  thirteen  ships  which  had  lashed 
themselves  together  just  sufficiently  securely 
to  render  uniform  movement  a  necessity.  East- 
ened  between  New  England  and  Virginia,  the 
middle  states  had  to  drift  forward  with  these 
flanking  vessels.  Chief  engineer  Adams  fed 
the  fires  and  let  not  the  machinery  rest.  A 
personal  attack  upon  him  made  at  this  time 
was  really  a  hopeful  symptom  of  the  despera 
tion  to  which  his  opponents  were  fast  being  re- 


118  JOHN  ADAMS. 

duced.  Maryland  instructed  her  delegates  to 
move  a  self-denying  ordinance,  of  which  the 
implication  was  that  Mr.  Adams  was  urging 
forward  independence  because  he  was  chief  jus 
tice  of  Massachusetts,  and  so  had  a  personal  gain 
to  achieve  by  making  the  office  permanent. 
But  not  much  could  be  gained  by  this  sort  of 
strategy.  By  the  spring  he  was  very  sanguine. 
"  As  to  declarations  of  independency,"  he  said 
to  his  wife,  "  be  patient.  Read  our  privateer 
ing  laws  and  our  commercial  laws.  What  sig 
nifies  a  word  ?  "  Yet  the  word  did  signify  a 
great  deal,  and  he  was  resolved  that  it  should 
be  spoken  bluntly  and  with  authority. 

He  saw  that  it  would  be  so  spoken  very  soon. 
On  May  29, 1776,  he  wrote  cheerfully :  "  Mary 
land  has  passed  a  few  eccentric  resolves,  but 
these  are  only  flashes  which  will  soon  expire. 
The  proprietary  governments  are  not  only  in- 
cumbered  with  a  large  body  of  Quakers,  but  are 
embarrassed  by  a  proprietary  interest;  both 
together  clog  their  operations  a  little,  but  these 
clogs  are  falling  off,  as  you  ^  will  soon  see." 
The  middle  colonies  had  "  never  tasted  the  bit 
ter  cup,"  "never  smarted,"  and  were  "therefore 
a  little  cooler ;  but  you  will  see  that  the  colonies 
are  united  indissolubly."  Of  this  union  he  was 
assured:  "  Those  few  persons,"  he  said,  "  who 
have  attended  closely  to  the  proceedings  of  the 


INDEPENDENCE.  119 

several  colonies  for  a  number  of  years  past,  and 
reflected  deeply  upon  the  causes  of  this  mighty 
contest,  have  foreseen  that  such  an  unanimity 
would  take  place  as  soon  as  a  separation  should 
"become  neccessary."  One  immense  relief  he 
was  now  enjoying,  which  probably  contributed 
hot  a  little  to  raise  his  spirits.  The  odious 
season  of  reticence  was  over;  he  was  at  last 
able  to  work  in  the  cause  openly  and  inces 
santly,  in  Congress  and  out  of  it,  in  debate,  on 
committees,  and  in  conversation.  His  influ 
ence  was  becoming  very  great  ;  his  hand  was 
ffclfc-  every  where  ;  during  the  autumn  of  1775, 
the  winter  and  spring  of  1776,  he  says  that  he 
unquestionably  did  more  business  than  any 
otheFmember  of  the  body.  He  had  broad  ideas  ; 
he  practiced  a  deep  and  far-reaching  strategy. 
Long  since  he  had  conceived  and  formulated 
a  complete  scheme  of  independence,  and  he  laid 
bhis  through  piece  by  piece, 


with  tjie  idea  that  when  every  item  which 
went  to  the  construction  of  •  the  composite  fact 
should  be  accomplished,  so  that  the  fact  unde 
niably  existed,  then  at  last  its  declaration,  even 
if  postponed  so  late,  could  no  longer  be  with- 
stood.  The  three  chief  articles  in  his  scheme, 
still  remaining  to  be  accomplished,  were,  ^a 
government  in  _eyfi^.,jp&Lony,  a  confederation 
among  them  all,  and  treaties  with  foreign  na- 


120  JOHN  ADAMS. 

tions  to  acknowledge  us  a  sovereigii^staifi."  In 
fact,  "a  government  in  every  colony"  really 
covered  the  whole  ground,  and  was  independ 
ence.  A  league  between  these  free  govern 
ments,  and  connections  with  foreign  states  were 
logically  only  natural  and  desirable  corollaries, 
not  integral  parts  of  the  proposition ;  but  practi 
cally  they  were  very  useful  links  to  maintain  it. 
By  the  month  of  May  the  stage  had  been 
reached  at  which  the  general  organization  of 
free  governments  among  the  states,  many  of 
which  had  not  yet  gone  through  the  form, 
seemed  possible.  On  May  6  Mr.  Adams 
brought  forward  a  resolution,  which,  after  be 
ing  debated  three  days,  was  passed  upon  May 
9.  It  recommended  to  those  several  colonies, 
wherein  no  government  "  sufficient  to  the  exi 
gencies  of  their  affairs  "  had  yet  been  estab 
lished,  to  adopt  such  a  government  as  should 
"  best  conduce  to  the  happiness  and  safety  "  of 
themselves  and  of  America.  Good  so  far  as  it 
went,  this  resolve  was  yet  felt  to  be  somewhat 
vague  and  easy  of  evasion.  To  cure  these  de 
fects  Mr.  Adams,  Mr.  Rutledge,  and  Mr.  Lee 
were  directed  to  prepare  a  preamble.  They 
reported,  on  May  15,  a  paragraph  which  cov 
ered  the  whole  ground  of  separation  from  Great 
Britain  and  independence  <>f  the  colonies.  Tills 
skillful  composition  recited  that  his  Britannic 


INDEPENDENCE.  121 

Majesty,  in  conjunction  with  the  Lords  and 
Commons,  had  "  excluded  the  inhabitants  of 
these  United  Colonies  from  the  protection  of 
his  crown  ;  that  the  whole  force  of  his  king 
dom,  aided  by  foreign  mercenaries,  was  being 
exerted  for  the  destruction  of  the  good  people 
of  these  colonies ;  that  it  was  irreconcilable  to 
reason  and  good  conscience  for  the  colonists 
now  to  take  oaths  and  affirmations  for  the  sup 
port  of  any  government  under  the  crown  of 
Great  Britain  ;  that  it  was  necessary  that  every 
kind  of  authority  under  that  crown  should  be 
totally  suppressed,  and  that  all  the  powers  of 
government  should  be  exerted  under  the  au 
thority  of  the  people  of  the  colonies,"  etc.,  etc. 
This  was  plain  speaking,  which  no  one  could 
pretend  to  misunderstand.  It  involved  inde 
pendence,  though  it  was  not  a  formal  and  ex 
plicit  declaration  ;  but  it  was  the  substance, 
the  thing  itself ;  only  verbal  recognition  of  the 
fact  remained  to  be  made,  and  was  of  course 
inevitable.  This  was  sufficiently  well  appre 
ciated  ;  Mr.  Duane  said  that  this  was  a  "  piece 
of  mechanism  to  work  out  independence."  The 
moderatists  fought  hard  and  not  without  bit 
terness,  though  they  recognized  that  they  were 
foredoomed  to  defeat.  Finally  the  preamble 
was  adopted.  Mr.  Adams  was  profoundly 
happy  in  his  triumph,  but  he  was  too  deeply 


122  JOHN  ADAMS. 

impressed  with  the  grandeur  of  the  occasion, 
too  much  overawed  by  a  consciousness  of  his 
own  leading  part  and  chief  responsibility,  to 
be  jubilant  or  elated  as  over  a  less  momentous 
victory.  He  writes  almost  solemnly  to  his 
wife  :  — 

"Is  it  not  a  saying  of  Moses  :  '  Who  am  I,  that  I 
should  go  in  and  out  before  this  great  people  ? ' 
When  I  consider  the  great  events  which  are  passed 
and  those  greater  which  are  rapidly  advancing,  and 
that  I  may  have  been  instrumental  in  touching  some 
springs  and  turning  some  small  wheels,  which  have 
had  and  will  have  such  effects,  I  feel  an  awe  upon 
my  mind  which  is  not  easily  described.  Great  Brit 
ain  has  at  last  driven  America  to  the  last  step,  a 
complete  separation  from  her,  a  total,  absolute  inde 
pendence,  not  only  of  her  parliament  but  of  her 
crown.  For  such  is  the  amount  of  the  resolve  of  the 
15th.  Confederation  among  ourselves  or  alliances 
with  foreign  nations  are  not  necessary  to  a  perfect 
separation  from  Great  Britain.  .  .  .  Confederation 
will  be  necessary  for  our  internal  concord,  and  alli 
ances  may  be  so  for  our  external  defense." 

Mr.  Adams  was  of  opinion  that  this  step 
could  have  been  wisely  taken  at  a  much  earlier 
date,  had  it  not  been  for  the  foolish  delays  in 
terposed  by  delegates  who  "  must  petition  and 
negotiate,"  notably  the  Pennsylvanians,  aided 
by  a  few  New  Yorkers  and  some  others  from 


INDEPENDENCE.  123 

the  lukewarm  middle  states.  He  believed  that 
twelve  months  before  "  the  people  were  as  ripe 
as  they  are  now."  But  this  must  be  doubted. 
Looking  back  upon  the  progress,  it  seems  to 
have  been  sufficiently  rapid  for  safety  and  per 
manence. 

The  thorough  approbation  entertained  for 
this  action  of  Congress  was  at  once  made  mani 
fest  in  the  alacrity  with  which  the  several  colo 
nies  prepared  to  assume  the  functions  of  in 
dependence.  Even  Pennsylvania  recognized 
that  the  gift  of  freedom  was  proffered  to  her 
accompanied  by  such  a  pressure  of  circum 
stances  that  she  could  not  reject  it.  Her  effete 
assembly  of  conciliationists  was  dying  of  inani 
tion.  A  body  of  representatives  was  chosen 
by  the  people,  and  voted  "  that  the  government 
of  this  province  is  not  competent  for  the  exi 
gencies  of  our  affairs." 

But  it  was  desirable  athat  a  fact  of  such  su 
preme  importance  as  the  birth  of  thirteen  new 
nations  should  not  remain  merely  a  matter  of 
logical  inference.  It  must  be  embodied  in  a 
declaration  incapable  of  misinterpretation,  not 
open  to  be  explained  away  by  ingenious  con 
structions  or  canceled  by  technical  arguments. 
Independence  could  not  be  left  to  be  gathered 
among  the  recitals  of  a  preamble.  Readers  will 
probably  forgive  me  for  narrating  in  the  brief- 


124  JOHN  ADAMS. 

est  manner  the  familiar  story  of  the  passage  of 
the  great  Declaration.  On  June  7,  Richard 
Henry  Lee  of  Virginia  moved  "  certain  resolu 
tions  respecting  independency."  John  Adams 
seconded  the  motion.  Its  consideration  was  re 
ferred  to  the  next  morning  at  ten  o'clock,  when 
members  were  "  enjoined  to  attend  punctually." 
A  debate  of  three  days  ensued.  It  appeared 
that  four  New  England  colonies  and  three 
southern  colonies  were  prepared  to  vote  at  once 
in  the  affirmative  ;  but  unanimity  was  desirable 
and  could  probably  be  obtained  by  a  little  de 
lay.  So  a  postponement  was  voted  until  July  1. 
There  was  abundance  of  work  to  be  done  in 
the  mean  time,  not  only  in  the  provinces,  but 
in  Congress  also,  where  the  machinery  for  the 
new  order  of  things  was  all  to  be  constructed 
and  set  in  order,  ready  for  immediate  use  so 
soon  as  the  creative  vote  could  be  taken.  Three 
committees  were  appointed;  one  was  charged 
with  drafting  the  document  itself,  so  that  it 
should  be  ready  for  adoption  on  July  1.  The 
members  of  this  committee,  in  order  of  prece 
dence,  were  Jefferson,  John  Adams,  Franklin, 
Sherman,  and  R.  R.  Livingston.  A  second 
committee  was  deputed  to  devise  a  scheme  for 
a  confederation  between  the  colonies ;  a  third 
had  the  duty  of  arranging  a  plan  for  treaties 
with  foreign  powers.  Upon  this  last  committee 


INDEPENDENCE.  125 

also  Adams  was  placed,  though  in  company 
with  colleagues  by  no  means  of  his  way  of 
thinking.  On  the  following  day  he  was  further 
put  at  the  head  of  a  "  board  of  war  and  ord 
nance,"  consisting  of  five  members  of  Congress 
and  charged  with  a  multiplicity  of  laborious 
duties.  Evidently  these  were  busy  days  for 
him.  But  they  were  days  of  triumph  in  which 
work  was  a  pleasure.  All  those  matters  which 
had  been  promoted  by  him  more  zealously  than 
by  any  other  delegate  seemed  now  on  the  eve 
of  accomplishment ;  and  then,  he  said,  "  I  shall 
think  that  I  have  answered  the  end  of  my  crea 
tion,  and  sing  my  nunc  dimittis,  return  to  my 
farm,  ride  circuits,  plead  law,  or  judge  causes." 
So  confident  was  he  of  the  sure  and  speedy 
achievement  of  his  purpose  that  he  actually  be 
gan  now  to  preach  patience  to  others. 

When  it  came  to  the  matter  of  writing  the 
Declaration,  some  civilities  were  exchanged  be- 
tween  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Jefferson,  each  po 
litely  requesting  the  other  to  undertake  it.  But 
as  it  had  been  probably  generally  expected,  if 
not  tacitly  understood,  that  Jefferson  should  do 
the  composition,  he  readily  engaged  to  try  his 
hand.  In  old  age  Jefferson  and  Adams  made 
statements  slightly  differing  from  each  other 
concerning  this  transaction.  Jefferson  said  that 
he  submitted  his  paper  to  Franklin  and  Adams 


126  JOHN  ADAMS. 

separately,  that  each  interlined  in  his  own 
handwriting  such  corrections  as  occurred  to 
him,  but  that  these  were  "  two  or  three  only 
and  merely  verbal ;  "  that  the  instrument  was 
then  reported  by  the  committee.  Adams  said 
that  after  the  paper  was  written  he  and  Jeffer 
son  conned  it  over  together,  that  he  was  de 
lighted  with  its  "  high  tone  and  flights  of  ora 
tory,"  and  that,  according  to  his  recollection, 
he  neither  made  nor  suggested  any  alteration, 
though  he  felt  sure  that  the  passage  concerning 
slavery  would  be  rejected  by  the  southern  del 
egates,  and  though  there  were  some  expressions 
which  he  did  not  wholly  approve,  especially 
that  which  stigmatized  George  III.  as  a  tyrant. 
The  paper,  he  says,  was  then  read  before  the 
whole  committee  of  five,  and  he  could  not  re 
call  that  it  was  criticised  at  all.  The  variance 
between  these  two  accounts  is  insignificant, 
and  in  view  of  the  fact  that  they  were  made 
nearly  half  a  century  after  the  events  took 
place,  it  is  only  surprising  that  they  were  not 
more  discordant.  The  controversy  excited 
some  interest  at  the  time  and  afterwards  ; 
though,  as  Mr.  C.  F.  Adams  truly  says,  the 
question  "  does  not  rise  beyond  the  character 
of  a  curiosity  of  literature."  Yet  he  himself 
cares  enough  about  it  to  endeavor  to  show  that 
his  grandfather's  statement  has  not  been  dis- 


INDEPENDENCE.  127 

credited  by  the  evidence.  But  the  contrary 
seems  to  be  the  more  correct  conclusion.  The 
only  evidence  of  any  real  value  which  exists  in 
the  case  is  the  original  draft  of  the  Declara 
tion  in  Jefferson's  handwriting,  bearing  two  or 
three  trifling  alterations  interlined  in  the  hand 
writings  of  Adams  and  Franklin.  It  should 
be  noted,  too,  that  Jefferson  assumes  to  speak 
positively,  while  Adams  carefully  limits  his 
statement  by  saying  that  it  is  according  to  his 
present  memory.  His  memory  was  not  a  per 
fectly  trustworthy  one. 

On  July  1,  debate  was  resumed  in  committee 
of  the  whole  on  the  original  resolution  of  Mr. 
Lee,  which  was  reported  to  Congress  and  car 
ried  by  that  body  on  the  next  day.  The  Dec 
laration  was  then  at  once  reported  and  dis 
cussed  until  late  on  July  4.  There  was  no 
doubt  that  it  would  be  carried,  but  Dickinson 
and  others  who  remained  strongly  opposed  to 
it  were  determined,  as  a  sort  of  solemn  though 
hopeless  duty,  to  speak  out  their  minds  against 
it.  Jefferson,  utterly  helpless  in  debate,  sat 
silent  and  very  uncomfortable,  while  the  hot 
battle  raged.  John  Adams,  in  this  supreme 
hour,  bore  the  whole  burden  of  supporting  a 
measure  which  he  regarded  as  the  consumma-  y( 
tion  of  all  the  labor  expended  by  him  since  he 
came  into  public  life,  —  substantially  as  "  the 


y 


128  JOHN  ADAMS. 

end  of  his  creation,"  as  he  had  said.  His  in- 
tense  earnestness,  his  familiarity  with  every 
possible  argument,  compelled  him  to  be  mag 
nificently  eloquent.  He  himself  did  not  know 
what  a  grand  effort  he  was  making,  but  his 
hearers  have  borne  their  testimony  to  his  power 
and  impressiveness  in  many  tributes  of  ardent 
praise.  Jefferson  uttered  words  of  warmest 
admiration  and  gratitude.  Adams,  he  said, 
was  the  "  Colossus  of  that  debate."  Stockton 
called  him  the  "  Atlas  of  independence."  His 
praise  was  in  every  mouth. 

On  July  3,  Adams  wrote  two  letters  to  his 
wife.  In  one  he  said  :  "  Yesterday  the  great 
est  question  was  decided  which  ever  was  de 
bated  in  America,  and  a  greater  perhaps  never 
was  nor  will  be  decided  among  men."  In  the 
other  :  "  The  second  day  of  July,  1776,  will  be 
the  most  memorable  epoch  in  the  history  of 
America.  I  am  apt  to  believe  that  it  will  be 
celebrated  by  succeeding  generations  as  the 
great  Anniversary  Festival.  It  ought  to  be 
commemorated  as  the  day  of  deliverance,  by 
solemn  acts  of  devotion  to  God  Almighty.  It 
ought  to  be  solemnized  with  pomp,  and  parade, 
with  shows,  games,  sports,  bells,  bonfires,  and 
illuminations,  from  one  end  of  this  continent 
to  the  other,  from  this  time  forward  for  ever 
more.  You  will  think  me  transported  with  en- 


INDEPENDENCE.  129 

thusiasm,  but  I  am  not.  I  am  well  aware  of 
the  toil  and  blood  and  treasure  that  it  will  cost 
us  to  maintain  this  Declaration,  and  support 
and  defend  these  states.  Yet  through  all  the 
gloom  I  can  see  the  rays  of  ravishing  light  and 
glory.  I  can  see  that  the  end  is  more  than 
worth  all  the  means ;  and  that  posterity  will 
triumph  in  that  day's  transaction,  even  though 
we  should  rue  it,  which  I  trust  in  God  we  shall 
not."  Posterity  has  selected  for  its  anniver 
sary  July  4,  instead  of  July  2,  though  the  ques 
tion  was  really  settled  on  the  earlier  day. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

AFTER   INDEPENDENCE. 

AMID  the  exultation  and  excitement  attend 
ant  upon  these  closing  hours  of  American  colo 
nialism,  Adams  gave  striking  evidence  of  the 
cool  judgment  and  statesmanlike  comprehen 
sion  which  constituted  a  solid  stratum  beneath 
his  impetuous  temper.  He  wrote  to  Samuel 
Chase  :  — 

"  If  you  imagine  that  I  expect  this  Declaration 
will  ward  off  calamities  from  this  country,  you  are 
much  mistaken.  A  bloody  conflict  we  are  destined 
to  endure.  This  has  been  my  opinion  from  the  be 
ginning.  .  .  .  Every  political  event  since  the  nine 
teenth  of  April,  1775,  has  confirmed  me  in  this 
opinion.  If  you  imagine  that  I  flatter  myself  with 
happiness  and  halcyon  days  after  a  separation  from 
Great  Britain,  you  are  mistaken  again.  I  do  not  ex 
pect  that  our  new  government  will  be  so  quiet  as  I 
could  wish,  nor  that  happy  harmony,  confidence,  and 
affection  between  the  colonies,  that  every  good  Amer 
ican  ought  to  study  and  pray  for,  for  a  long  time. 
But  freedom  is  a  counterbalance  for  poverty,  discord, 
and  war,  and  more.  It  is  your  hard  lot  and  mine  to 


AFTER  INDEPENDENCE.  131 

be  called  into  life  at  such  a  time.     Yet  even  these 
times  have  their  pleasures." 

In  such  words  there  spoke  a  cool  states 
man  as  well  as  a  warm  patriot,  accurately 
measuring  a  great  victory  even  in  the  flush  of 
it,  appreciating  justly  the  struggles  yet  to 
come. 

The  enthusiastic  gentleman,  who  called  Mr. 
Adams   the  Atlas  of  American  independence, 
confused   the   fact   of   independence  with   the 
declaration  of  it.     The  only  Atlas  of  American 
independence  was  the  great   leader  who  won 
the   War  of  the  Revolution.     He  established 
the  fact;  Mr.  Adams  induced  Congress  to  de 
clare  it.     To  Mr.  Adams  belongs,  accurately 
speaking,  the  chief  credit  for  having  not  only 
defended  the  Declaration  triumphantly  in  de 
bate,  but  for  having  brought  his  fellow-dele 
gates  to  the  point  of  passing  votes  which,  prior 
to  the  formal   declaration,  involved  it  ;is  a  logi 
cal  conclusion.     His  earnestness  in  this  cause 
appears  to  have  been  greater  than  that  of  any 
other  member ;  he  pressed  upon  his  object  as 
a  beleaguering  army  presses  upon  a  city ;  he 
captured  one  outwork  after  another ;  week  by 
week  he  made  the  ultimate  result   more  and 
more  inevitable  by  inducing  Congress  to  take 
one  step  after  another  in  the  desired  direction  ; 
his  intensity  of  purpose  affected  others,  as  it 


132  JOHN  ADAMS. 

always  will ;  his  tenacity  was  untiring ;  his  elo 
quence  was  never  silent ;  so  thoroughly  did  he 
study  the  subject  that  no  individual  could  cope 
with  the  force,  variety,  readiness,  and  breadth 
of  his  arguments ;  so  keen  did  his  perceptions 
become  beneath  the  influence  of  his  deep  re 
solve  that  he  was  able  so  far  to  subdue  his  own 
nature  as  to  become  diplomatic,  ingenious,  and 
patient  in  his  methods.  The  same  result  would 
without  doubt  have  been  reached  had  John 
Adams  never  existed,  so  that  in  a  certain  sense 
of  the  words,  the  declaration  was  not  due  to 
him ;  but  as  that  phrase  is  ordinarily  used,  to 
signify  that  his  efforts  were  the  most  conspicu 
ous  visible  impulse,  it  is  proper  to  say  that  the 
achievement  was  his  work. 

Foolish  as  it  generally  is  to  speculate  upon 
what  would  have  been  if  historical  events  had 
not  occurred  as  they  did,  yet  occasionally  a  sup 
position  seems  sure  enough  to  be  of  interest 
and  value  in  enabling  us  to  appreciate  the  im 
portance  of  an  individual  and  the  relationship 
of  some  prominent  man  to  the  public  affairs 
in  which  he  is  concerned.  No  one  doubts  that 
the  American  colonies  would  at  some  time  or 
other  have  become  independent  states,  though 
George  Washington  had  never  lived.  But  no 
one  who  has  carefully  studied  that  period  can 
doubt  that  independence  would  not  have  been 


AFTER  INDEPENDENCE.  133 

achieved  in  the  especial  struggle  of  1776  with 
out  George  Washington.  His  existence  was 
essential  to  American  success  in  that  war. 
With  him  the  colonies  were  on  the  verge  of 
failure ;  without  him  they  would  inevitably 
have  passed  over  that  verge,  and  would  have 
had  to  wait  during  an  uncertain  period  for  a 
better  opportunity.  The  combination  of  his 
moral  and  mental  qualities  was  so  singular  that 
he  is  an  absolutely  unique  character  in  history. 
Other  men  belong  to  types  and  classes,  and  in 
dividual  members  of  any  type  or  class  may  be 
compared  with  each  other.  Washington  is  the 
only  man  of  his  type  or  class.  Thus  it  hap 
pens  that  no  one  has  yet  succeeded  in  describ 
ing  his  character.  Every  effort  that  has  been 
made  is  avowedly  a  total  failure.  There  have 
been  men  as  honest,  as  just,  as  patriotic,  as  de 
voted,  as  persistent,  as  noble-minded,  as  digni 
fied,  as  much  above  suspicion,  men  as  capable 
of  inspiring  that  confidence  which  leads  to  will 
ing  obedience,  men  infinitely  more  magnetic 
and  able  to  excite  much  warmer  personal  alle 
giance,  men  of  larger  brains,  of  greater  strate 
gic  abilities  natural  and  acquired,  of  wider  ap 
titude  for  statesmanship.  Yet  still  Washington 
stands  by  himself,  a  man  not  susceptible  of 
comparison  with  any  other,  whether  for  praise 
or  disparagement ;  a  man  who  never  did  a  sin- 


134  JOHN  ADAMS. 

gle  act  indicative  of  genius,  yet  who  amid 
problems  as  novel  and  perplexing  as  ever  tor 
tured  the  toiler  in  public  affairs  never  made  a 
serious  mistake.  One  writer  will  tell  us  that 
it  was  the  grand  morality  of  his  nature  which 
brought  him  success  ;  another  prefers  to  say 
that  it  was  his  judgment ;  but  neither  of  these 
mere  suggestions  of  leading  traits  accomplishes 
the  explanation,  or  guides  us  to  the  heart  of 
the  undiscoverable  secret.  This  lurks  as  hid 
den  from  the  historian  as  does  the  principle  of 
life  from  the  anatomist. 

John  Adams's  character,  on  the  other  hand, 
can  puzzle  no  one  ;  his  broad,  earnest,  powerful, 
impetuous,  yet  simple  humanity  is  perfectly  in 
telligible,  equally  in  its  moral  and  in  its  mental 
developments.  Injijs  -department  he  promoted 
independence  more  efficiently  than  any  one  else, 
he  would  have  been  a  greater  loss  than  any 
other  one  man  in  Congress  to  that  cause  ;  but 
independence  would  not  have  been  lost  in  his 
loss,  would  probably  not  even  have  been  seri 
ously  postponed.  Popular  sentiment  would 
have  demanded  it  and  Congress  would  have  re 
flected  that  sentiment  almost  as  soon,  though 
the  tongue  of  Mr.  Adams  had  never  moved. 
Adams,  however,  could  never  fully  realize  this 
essential  difference  between  the  value  of  his 
own  personality  and  the  value  of  that  of  Wash- 


AFTER  INDEPENDENCE.  135 

i'ngton.  Throughout  life  he  felt  that,  in  the 
preeminence  universally  given  to  Washington, 
he  was  robbed  of  insignia  properly  appurtenant 
to  his  glory.  In  1822,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Pick 
ering,  he  recalled  the  jealousy  and  distrust 
towards  New  England  in  the  earlier  stages  of 
the  struggle,  and  the  resulting  necessity  upon 
him  of  keeping  somewhat  in  the  rear  in  order 
to  give  an  apparent  leadership  to  Virginia. 
The  whole  policy  of  the  United  States,  he  said, 
had  been  subsequently  colored  and  affected  by 
this  same  state  of  feeling,  and  this  consequent 
according  of  precedence  to  Southerners.  "  With 
out  it  Mr.  Washington  would  never  have  com 
manded  our  armies ;  nor  Mr.  Jefferson  have 
been  the  author  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence  ;  nor  Mr.  Richard  Henry  Lee  the 
mover  of  it ;  nor  Mr.  Chase  the  mover  of  for 
eign  connections ;  .  .  .  nor  had  Mr.  Johnson 
ever  been  the  nominator  of  Washington  for 
General."  There  was  some  justice  in  Mr. 
Adams's  feeling ;  the  suspicion  entertained 
towards  Massachusetts  had  compelled  him  to 
yield  to  others  a  conspicuousness  really  belong 
ing  to  himself.  Jefferson,  Lee,  Chase,  and 
Johnson  together  were  far  from  constituting  an 
equivalent  for  him.  But  his  unconquerable 
blunder,  originating  in  1776-77,  before  he  left 
Congress,  and  acquiring  much  greater  proper- 


136  JOHN  ADAMS. 

tions  afterwards,  lay  in  his  utter  incapacity  to 
see  that  there  could  be  no  comparison  between 
Washington  and  himself,  that  not  even  any 
common  measure  could  exist  for  them,  since  it 
is  impossible  to  establish  a  proportion  between 
the  absolutely  essential  and  the  highly  impor 
tant. 

Before  Mr.  Adams  left  Congress  in  the  spring 
of  1777  he  was  obliged  to  witness  such  a  train 
of  disasters  as  made  every  one  despondent,  — 
the  defeat  on  Long  Island,  the  evacuation  of 
New  York,  the  retreat  through  the  Jerseys,  the 
abandonment  of  Philadelphia.  Deep  discour 
agement  prevailed,  certainly  not  without  rea 
son.  The  times  were  critical,  and  the  colonies 
were  terribly  near  ruin.  General  Greene  re 
iterated  to  Mr.  Adams  that  the  business  was 
hopeless.  Such  a  series  of  events  naturally 
produced  some  feeling  of  doubt  concerning 
the  capacity  of  Washington  ;  personal  and  less 
honorable  motives  also  exercised  a  like  influ 
ence  in  some  quarters.  There  was  an  effort  to 
set  up  Gates  as  a  rival,  after  the  surrender  of 
Burgoyne.  Adams  was  fortunately  no  longer 
a  member  of  Congress  when  these  designs  had 
come  near  maturity.  It  is  probable  that  he 
thus  fortunately  escaped  any  share  in  them  ; 
but  his  affiliations  had  been  so  largely  with 
those  who  became  anti-Washingtonians,  and 


AFTER  INDEPENDENCE.  137 

his  predilections  were  already  so  far  known, 
that  he  was  regarded  as  of  that  connection  and 
sympathy.  Mr.  C.  F.  Adams  endeavors  to 
clear  his  grandfather  from  the  obloquy  attend 
ant  upon  such  sentiments,  but  he  is  obviously 
uncomfortable  beneath  the  necessity  and  per 
forms  his  task  unsatisfactorily.  Really  his  best 
sentences  are  those  in  which  he  shapes  not  so 
much  a  denial  as  a  palliation,  —  "  Neither  is  it 
any  cause  of  wonder  or  censure  that  the  patri 
ots  in  Congress,  who  had  not  yet  any  decisive 
experience  of  his  [Washington's]  true  qualities, 
should  have  viewed  with  much  uneasiness  the 
power  which  circumstances  were  accumulating 
in  his  hands.  History  had  no  lesson  to  prompt 
confidence  in  him,  and  on  the  other  hand  it 
was  full  of  warnings.  In  this  light  the  attempt, 
whilst  organizing  another  army  in  the  north, 
to  raise  up  a  second  chief  as  a  resource  in  case 
of  failure  with  the  first,  must  be  viewed  as  a 
measure  not  without  much  precautionary  wis 
dom."  This  "  attempt,"  he  acknowledges,  was 
"  actively  promoted  "  by  John  Adams.  In  spite 
of  the  plausible  skill  with  which  this  argument 
is  put,  it  remains  an  excuse  rather  than  a  vin 
dication.  It  was  John  Adams's  business  to 
form  a  correct  judgment  of  men  and  measures ; 
so  far  as  he  failed  to  do  so  he  failed  to  show  the 
ability  demanded  by  his  position  ;  if  his  error 


138  JOHN  ADAMS. 

was  wholly  of  the  head,  it  affects  only  our  opin 
ion  of  the  soundness  of  his  judgment  in  mili 
tary  matters  and  in  reading  men  ;  if  any  per 
sonal  motive,  though  unrecognized  by  himself, 
likewise  interfered,  this  fact  may  lower  a  little 
our  opinion  of  his  character. 

-Mr^Ldams  had  spoken  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  as  the  "  end  of  his  creation." 
The  arduous  and  exhausting  efforts  which  he 
made  to  achieve  it  told  so  severely  upon  his 
health  that  his  words  threatened  to  be  fulfilled 
in  a  sense  quite  different  from  that  in  which 
he  had  uttered  them.  But  worn  out  as  he 
was,  the  consummation  brought  him  no  .rest.- 
The  Declaration  at  once  proved  to  be  a  begin 
ning  of  more  than  it  had  brought  to  an  end. 
The  thirteen  embryotic  nations,  created  by  it, 
were  to  be  united  into  a  single  nationality,  or 
federation,  of  a  character  so  peculiar  that  no 
historical  precedent  afforded  any  real  aid  in 
the  task.  In  this  direction  Mr.  Adams  was 
able  to  render  very  important  services.  From 
the  beginning  he  had  given  much  thought  to 
the  subject  of  government.  "  Would  that  we 
were  good  architects  !  "  had  been  his  anxious 
cry  long  before  the  conciliationists  had  been 
worsted  or  permanent  separation  had  appeared 
other  than  a  remote  possibility.  His  services 
in  promoting  independence  have  naturally  mo- 


AFTER  INDEPENDENCE.  139 

nopolized  attention  almost  to  the  entire  exclu 
sion  of  his  other  labors.  But  in  fact,  though 
more  showy,  they  were  not  so  greatly  more 
valuable  than  other  matters  which  he  was  car 
ing  for  at  this  time,  and  which  have  been  very 
little  heard  of.  They  were  in  their  nature  de 
structive  ;  it  was  at  the  annihilation  of  royal 
domination  that  they  were  aimed,  from  which 
independence  was  the  inevitable  result.  But 
destruction  seldom  demands  the  highest  order 
of  intellectual  effort ;  a  destroyer  is  not  a  states 
man  ;  and  if  John  Adams  had  only  been  the 
chief  mover  in  substituting  independence  for 
dependence,  it  would  be  more  complimentary 
than  accurate  to  say  that  he  was  the  statesman 
of  the  Revolution.  There  were  enough  other 
destroyers  in  those  days,  and  that  work  was 
sure  to  be  thoroughly  done.  But  Adams  had 
the  higher,  constructive  faculty.  Many  re 
marks  and  sentences,  scattered  through  his 
contemporaneous  writings  during  the  revolu 
tionary  period,  show  his  quick  natural  eye  for 
governmental  matters  ;  he  seems  to  be  in  a 
ceaseless  condition  of  observation  and  thought 
concerning  them.  The  influence  which  he  ex 
erted  was  so  indefinite  that  it  can  be  estimated 
hardly  with  a  valuable  approximation  to  ac 
curacy  ;  but  it  must  have  been  very  great. 
He  was  constantly  engaged  in  studying  the 


J 


140  JOHN  ADAMS. 

forms  of  government  in  the  middle  and  in  the 
southern  sections,  each  differing  widely  from 
those  of  New  England  as  well  as  from  each 
other.  He  used  to  speculate  upon  the  varying 
influences  of  these  forms,  and  to  consider  what 
changes  must  be  effected  in  order  to  accom 
plish  unanimity  of  feeling  arid  of  action.  From 
an  early  day  his  eye  had  ranged  forward  to  the 
time  when  the  existing  systems  must  be  suc 
ceeded  by  different  ones,  and  he  busied  himself 
much  with  thinking  what  new  principles  should 
be  incorporated  in  the  new  machinery.  He 
watched  with  anxiety  all  indications  of  opinion 
in  this  direction,  and  lost  no  opportunity  to  in 
culcate  his  own  ideas,  which  were  clear  and 
decided.  Many  months  prior  to  the  time  at 
which  we  are  now  arrived,  Tom  Paine  pub 
lished  "  Common  Sense."  Adams,  to  whom 
this  anonymous  but  famous  publication  was  by 
many  attributed,  was  in  fact  greatly  disgusted 
at  the  lack  of  the  architectural  element  in  it, 
and  was  soon  stirred  to  write  and  publish  an 
other  pamphlet,  also  anonymous,  which  was  de 
signed  to  supply  the  serious  deficiency  of 
Paine's.  This  paper  profoundly  discussed  plans 
and  forms  of  government  in  a  practical  way, 
for  the  purpose  of  meeting  the  near  wants  of 
the  colonies.  Its  authorship  being  shrewdly 
surmised,  it  was  widely  circulated  and  read 


AFTER  INDEPENDENCE.  141 

with  great  interest,  especially  by  those  men  in 
the  several  provinces  who  were  soon  to  be 
chiefly  concerned  in  framing  the  new  constitu 
tions.  Adams  modestly  said  of  it,  that  it  had 
at  least  "  contributed  to  set  people  thinking  on 
the  subject,"  so  that  the  "  manufacture  of  gov 
ernments  "  became  for  the  time  "  as  much 
talked  of  as  that  of  saltpetre  was  before."  Of 
course  it  is  impossible  to  say  what  effect  this 
pamphlet  had ;  yet  that  it  had  very  much  is 
more  than  probable. 

With  his  habit  of  noticing  such  matters 
Adams  had  early  remarked  upon  the  difference 
between  the  theories  of  state  -  polity  at  the 
North  and  at  the  South,  a  difference  much 
wfder  apparently  in  the  spirit  of  administration 
than  in  the  description  of  the  apparatus.  He 
himself  was  saturated,  so  to  speak,  with  the 
doctrines  and  practice  of  New  England,  and 
whether  in  writing  or  in  talk  he  was  never 
backward  to  enforce  his  faith  with  the  extreme 
earnestness  of  deep  conviction.  By  corre 
spondence  and  conversation  with  leading  men 
in  every  quarter  he  efficiently  backed  his  pam 
phlet.  When,  therefore,  ^the  innovation  of  a 
more  popular  and-  democratic  spirit  is  observ 
able  in  one.  and  another  of  the  new  constitu 
tions,  it  is  fair  to  presume  that  Adams  had  done 
much  to  bring  about  the  change.  In  a  letter 


142  JOHN  ADAMS. 

to  Patrick  Henry,  accompanying  his  pamphlet, 
Adams  said  :  "  The  dons,  the  bashaws,  the 
grandees,  the  patricians,  the  sachems,  the  na 
bobs,  call  them  by  what  name  you  please,1 
sigh,  groan,  and  fret,  and  sometimes  stamp  and 
foam  and  curse ;  but  all  in  vain.  The  decree 
is  gone  forth  and  it  cannot  be  recalled,  that  a 
more  equal  liberty  than  has  prevailed  in  other 
parts  of  the  earth  must  be  established  in  Amer 
ica.  That  exuberance  of  pride,  which  has  pro 
duced  an  insolent  domination  in  a  few,  a  very 
few,  opulent,  monopolizing  families,  will  be 
brought  down  nearer  to  the  confines  of  reason 
and  moderation  than  they  have  been  used  to." 
To  Mr.  Hughes  of  New  York  he  writes,  dep 
recating  any  scheme  "  for  making  your  gov 
ernor  and  counselors  for  life  or  during  good  be 
havior.  I  should  dread  such  a  constitution  in 
these  perilous  times.  .  .  .  The  people  ought  to 
have  frequently  the  opportunity,  especially  in 
these  dangerous  times,  of  considering  the  con 
duct  of  their  leaders,  and  of  approving  or  dis 
approving.  You  will  have  no  safety  without 
it."  He  says  that  Pennsylvania  is  "  in  a  good 
way.  .  .  .  The  large  body  of  the  people  will 
be  possessed  of  more  power  and  importance, 
and  a  proud  junto  of  less."  In  a  letter  to 

1  Elsewhere  he  called  them,  by  a  better  nomenclature,  "  the 
barons  of  the  South." 


AFTER  INDEPENDENCE. 

Richard  Henry  Lee  he  rejoices  because 
will  be  "  much  more  uniformity  in  the  govern 
ments  than  could  have  been  expected  a  few 
months  ago,"  a  result  presumably  due  in  large 
part  to  his  own  unremitting  exertions.  His 
"  Thoughts  on  Government "  had  done  good 
work  in  Virginia,  far  beyond  his  expectations, 
and  generally  he  was  "  amazed  to  find  an  in 
clination  so  prevalent  throughout  all  the  south 
ern  colonies  to  adopt  plans  so  nearly  resem 
bling  that  "  which  he  had  enforced  in  his  po 
litical  sermons. 

Immediately  following  independence  came 
also  a  necessity  for  the  formation  of  a  federa 
tion".  '  Some  sort  of  a  bond,  a  league,  must  be 
devised  for  tying  the  thirteen  nations  together 
for  a  few  purposes.  Nevertheless,  the  alliance 
was  not  to  have  the  effect  of  creating  a  single 
nationality,  was  not  to  deprive  each  ally  of  its 
character  of  absolute  sovereignty  as  an  individ 
ual  state.  Mr.  Adams  recognized  that  this 
could  not  be  done  at  once  in  any  perfect  or 
permanent  form.  Whatever  should  be  ar 
ranged  now  would  necessarily  be  an  experi 
ment,  a  temporary  expedient,  out  of  which,  by 
a  study  of  its  defects  as  they  should  develop, 
there  might  in  time  be  evolved  a  satisfactory 
system.  But  none  the  less  zealously  did  he 
enter  upon  the  task  of  making  the  federation 


144  JOHN  ADAMS. 

as  efficient  as  possible  under  the  circumstances, 
and  he  did  much  hard  and  important  work  in 
this  department.  No  sketch  of  it  can  well  be 
given  in  this  limited  space,  nor  perhaps  would 
such  a  sketch  be  very  valuable  except  to  a  stu 
dent  of  constitutional  history.  Therefore,  after 
July  4,  1776,  the  remainder  of  Adams's  Con 
gressional  career,  though  laborious  to  the  point 
of  exhaustion,  gives  no  salient  points  for  de 
scription.  It  was  in  the  routine  of  business 
that  his  time  was  now  consumed,  and  very 
largely  in  work  upon  the  committees.  It 
would  seem  that  there  could  not  have  been 
many  of  these  upon  which  he  had  not  a  place ; 
for  he  was  a  member  of  upwards  of  ninety 
which  were  recorded,  and  of  a  great  many  oth 
ers  which  were  unrecorded.  He  says  that  he 
was  kept  incessantly  at  work  from  four  o'clock 
in  the  morning  until  ten  o'clock  at  night.  Be 
sides  the  arduous  business  of  forming  the  fed 
eration,  he  was  also  obliged  to  devote  himself 
to  that  subject,  with  which  his  previous  efforts 
had  already  allied  him  in  the  minds  of  mem 
bers,  the  establishment  of  connections  with 
European  powers.  Independence  would  not 
permit  this  important  matter  to  be  longer  post 
poned  ;  and  a  committee,  of  which  Adams  was 
an  important  working  member,  was  charged  to 
consider  and  report  a  system  of  foreign  policy 


AFTER  INDEPENDENCE.  145 

far  the  thirteen  colonies,  and  to  suggest  forms 
of  commercial  treaties. 

But  labors  more  difficult,  more  vexatious, 
more  omnivorous  of  time,  were  entailed  upon 
Mr.  Adams  by  his  position  at  the  head  of  the 
war  department.  The  task  of  organization 
was  enormous  ;  the  knowledge  and  arrange 
ment  of  details  were  appalling.  Nor  was  this 
all.  The  powexJlLCQnffre.ss,  if  any  real  power 
it  had,  over  the  army,  was  so  undefined  even 
in  theory,  so  vague  in  its  practical  bearing 
upon  the  officers,  so  difficult  of  enforcement, 
that  the  relationship  of  the  Congressional  com 
mittee,  which  really  constituted  the  war  de 
partment,  with  that  body,  was  excessively  deli 
cate.  Adams's  zealous  and  hasty  temperament 
was  subjected  to  some  severe  trials.  Aggrieved 
officers  would  sometimes  become  not  only 
disrespectful  but  insubordinate.  But  in  such 
crises  he  acquitted  himself  well.  A  sense  of 
weakness  in  the  last  resort  perhaps  prevented 
his  giving  loose  to  any  outburst  of  anger,  while 
his  high  spirit  and  profound  earnestness  lent 
to  his  language  an  impressive  force  and  an  ap 
pearance  of  firmness  almost  imperious.  His 
deep  sincerity  inspired  all  his  communications 
and  gave  them  a  tone  which  procured  respect 
and  turned  aside  resentment.  He  breathed 
into  others  an  honesty  of  purpose,  a  vigor,  a 
10 


146  JOHN  ADAMS. 

devotedness  akin  to  his  own.  Being  also  a 
man  of  much  business  ability  and  untiring  in 
dustry,  he  made,  substantially,  a  war-minister 
admirably  adapted  to  the  peculiar  and  exact 
ing  requirements  of  that  anomalous  period. 

But  it  was  impossible  that  a  man  not  enjoy 
ing  a  rugged  physique  could  endure  for  an  in 
definite  time  labors  so  engrossing  and  anxie 
ties  so  great,  away  from  the  comforts  of  home, 
and  in  a  climate  which,  during  many  months  of 
the  year,  appeared  to  him  extremely  hot.  His 
desire  for  relief,  more  and  more  earnestly  ex 
pressed,  at  last  took  a  definite  and  resolute 
shape.  He  wanted  to  have  the  Massachusetts 
delegation  so  increased  in  numbers  that  the 
members  could  take  turns  in  attending  Con 
gress  and  in  staying  at  home*  If  this  could 
not  be  done,  he  tendered  his  resignation.  The 
reply  came  in  the  shape  of  a  permission  to 
take  a  long  vacation,  which  he  did  in  the  winter 
of  1776-7.  Then  he  returned  to  spend  the 
spring,  summer,  and  autumn  of  1777  in  a  con 
tinuance  of  the  same  labors  which  have  just 
been  described.  At  last  the  limit  of  specific 
duties  which  he  had  long  ago  set  for  himself 
having  been  achieved  and  even  overpast,  he 
definitively  carried  out  his  design  of  retirement. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

FIRST   FOREIGN   MISSION. 

IT  was  on  November  11,  1777,  that  John 
Adams,  accompanied  by  his  kinsman  Samuel 
Adams,  set  forth  from  Philadelphia  on  his 
homeward  journey.  He  was  at  last  a  private 
citizen,  rejoiced  to  be  able  again  to  attend  to 
his  own  affairs,  and  to  resume  the  important 
task  of  money  -  gathering  at  his  old  calling. 
Yet  he  was  hardly  allowed  even  to  get  on  his 
professional  harness.  He  was  arguing  an  ad 
miralty  cause  in  Portsmouth  when  a  letter 
reached  him,  dated  December  3,  1777,  from 
Richard  Henry  Lee  and  James  Lovell,  an 
nouncing  his  appointment  as  commissioner  at 
the  court  of  France,  wishing  him  a  quick  and 
pleasant  voyage,  and  cheerfully  suggesting  that 
he  should  have  his  dispatch  bags  sufficiently 
weighted  to  be  able  to  sink  them  instantly  in 
case  of  capture.  The  day  after  he  received 
this  letter  he  accepted  the  trust,  though  the 
duty  imposed  by  it  was  far  from  attractive. 
Besides  the  ordinary  discomforts  and  perils  of 


148  JOHN  ADAMS. 

a  winter  passage  in  a  sailing  vessel  he  had  to 
consider  the  chances  of  seizure  by  British  ships, 
which  covered  the  ocean  and  were  taking  mul 
titudes  of  prizes.  If  captured,  he  would  be  but 
a  traitor,  having  in  prospect  certainly  the 
Tower  of  London  and  possibly  all  the  penalties 
of  the  English  statutes  against  high  treason. 
If  he  should  arrive  safely,  he  would  be  only 
one  of  three  commissioners  at  the  French 
court;  and  France,  though  kindly  rendering 
courteous  services,  had  not  yet  become  the  ally 
of  the  states  and  was  still  in  nominal  friend 
ship  with  Great  Britain.  Moreover,  he  was  to 
step  into  an  uninviting  scene  of  dissension  and 
suspicion.  The  states  were  represented  by 
Franklin,  Arthur  Lee,  and  Silas  Deane ;  Adams 
was  to  supersede  Deane,  who  had  oeen  embar 
rassing  Congress  by  reckless  engagements  with 
French  military  officers,  and  who  in  many  other 
ways  had  shown  himself,  to  say  the  best  of  it, 
eminently  unfit  for  diplomatic  functions.  There 
was  much  ill-feeling,  of  which  the  new  ambas 
sador  could  not  expect  to  escape  a  share.  Al 
together,  it  was  greatly  to  his  credit  that  he 
promptly  agreed  to  fill  the  post. 

On  February  13,  1778,  he  set  sail  in  the 
frigate  Boston,  accompanied  by  his  young  son, 
John  Quincy  Adams.  On  the  20th,  an  English 
ship  of  war  gave  them  chase.  Adams  urged  the 


FIRST  FOREIGN  MISSION.  149 

officers  and  crew  to  fight  desperately,  deeming 
it  "  more  eligible  "  for  himself  "  to  be  killed  on 
board  the  Boston  or  sunk  to  the  bottom  in  her, 
than  to  be  taken  prisoner."  But  a  favoring 
breeze  saved  him  from  the  choice  between  such 
melancholy  alternatives,  and  on  March  31  he 
found  himself  riding  safely  at  anchor  in  the 
river  at  Bordeaux. 

At  the  French  court  he  was  pleasantly  re- 
ceived.  People,  he  says,  at  first  supposed  that 
he  was  "  the  famous  Adams ; "  but  when 
somebody  asked  him  if  this  were  so,  he  mod 
estly  explained  that  he  was  only  a  cousin  of 
that  distinguished  person.  Thereafter  he  re 
ceived  less  attention.  It  was  unfortunate  too 
that  he  knew  nothing  of  the  language  ;  but  he 
got  along,  sometimes  by  the  aid  of  an  inter 
preter,  sometimes  by  "  gibbering  something 
like  French."  This  deficiency,  however,  rather 
diminished  his  pleasure  than  his  usefulness ; 
for  he  soon  found  that  his  chief  labors  were  to 
be  with  his  own  countrymen  and  colleagues. 
The  affairs  of  the  mission  he  found  much  worse 
than  he  had  anticipated.  The  jealousies  and 
hostilities  among  the  American  representatives 
there  were  very  great.  He  wrote  in  his  diary : 
"  It  is  with  much  grief  and  concern  that  I  have 
learned,  from  my  first  landing  in  France,  the 
disputes  between  the  Americans  in  this  king 


150  JOHN  ADAMS. 

dom ;  the  animosities  between  Mr.  Deane  and 
Mr.  Lee  ;  between  Dr.  Franklin  and  Mr.  Lee ; 
between  Mr.  Izard  and  Dr.  Franklin ;  between 
Dr.  Bancroft  and  Mr.  Lee ;  between  Mr.  Car- 
michael  and  all.  It  is  a  rope  of  sand.  I  am 
at  present  wholly  untainted  with  these  preju 
dices,  and  will  endeavor  to  keep  myself  so." 
He  %heard  that  Deane  and  Bancroft  had  made 
fortunes  by  "  dabbling  in  the  English  funds,  and 
in  trade,  and  in  fitting  out  privateers ; "  also 
that  "  the  Lees  were  selfish."  "  I  am  sorry  for 
these  things ;  but  it  is  no  part  of  my  business 
to  quarrel  with  anybody  without  cause."  All 
the  business  and  affairs  of  the  commission  had 
been  conducted  in  the  most  lax  manner;  no 
minute-book,  letter-book,  or  account-book  had 
been  kept ;  expenditure  had  been  lavish,  "  pro 
digious  "  as  he  said,  but  there  was  no  way  to 
learn  how  the  'money  had  gone  or  how  much 
was  still  owing.  Utterly  inexperienced  as  he 
was  in  such  affairs,  he  yet  showed  good  sense 
and  energy.  He  endeavored  to  avoid  allying 
himself  with  any  faction,  siding  now  with 
Franklin  and  again  with  Lee  according  to  his 
views  of  the  merits  of  each  specific  discussion, 
and  seeking  at  the  same  time,  not  to  lose  the 
confidence  of  the  Count  de  Vergennes,  the 
French  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  who  was 
very  partial  to  Franklin  and  inimical  to  Lee. 


FIRST  FOREIGN  MISSION.  151 

Further,  he  set  himself  zealously  to  bring  the 
business  department  of  the  mission  into  a 
proper  condition.  The  commissioners  had 
complete  control  over  the  fiscal  affairs  of  the 
states  abroad,  and  had  heretofore  managed  them 
in  a  manner  inconceivably  loose  and  careless. 
As  Mr.  Adams  wrote  home  to  the  commer 
cial  committee  of  Congress :  "  Agents  of  vari 
ous  sorts  are  drawing  bills  upon  us,  and  the 
commanders  of  vessels  of  war  are  drawing  on 
us  for  expenses  and  supplies  which  we  never 
ordered.  .  .  .  We  find  it  so  difficult  to  obtain 
accounts  from  agents  of  the  expenditure  of 
moneys  and  of  the  goods  and  merchandises 
shipped  by  them,  that  we  can  never  know  the 
true  state  of  our  finances."  All  this  shocked 
Mr.  Adams,  who  had  the  notions  and  habits  of 
a  man  of  business,  and  he  at  once  endeavored 
to  arrange  a  system  of  rigordus  accuracy  and 
accountability,  in  spite  of  the  indifference,  and 
occasionally  the  reluctance,  of  his  colleagues. 
Henceforth  records  were  kept ;  letters  were 
copied ;  accounts  were  accurately  set  down. 

But  the  reforms  in  matters  of  detail  which 
he  could  accomplish  were  by  no  means  suffi 
cient  to  counteract  the  clumsy  and  inefficient 
way  in  which  the  business  of  the  states  was 
conducted,  and  to  which  he  had  no  mind  to  be 
even  a  silent  party.  An  entire  reorganization 


152  JOHN  ADAMS. 

was  evidently  needed,  and  on  May  21,  1778,  he 
wrote  a  plain  and  bold  letter,  which  he  ad 
dressed  to  Samuel  Adams,  since,  apart  from  his 
colleagues,  he  could  not  properly  communicate 
with  Congress.  He  urged  the  gross  impropri 
ety  of  leaving  the  salaries  of  the  ministers  en 
tirely  uncertain,  so  that  they  spent  what  they 
chose  and  then  sent  their  accounts  (such  as 
they  were)  to  be  allowed  by  Congress ;  the 
error  of  blending  the  business  of  a  public  min 
ister  with  that  of  a  commercial  agent ;  and, 
most  important  of  all,  the  folly  of  maintain 
ing  three  commissioners  where  a  single  envoy 
would  be  vastly  more  serviceable.  By  such 
advice  he  knowingly  advised  himself  out  of 
office  ;  for  Dr.  Franklin  was  sure  to  be  re 
tained  at  the  French  court,  Lee  already  had  a 
letter  of  credence  to  Madrid,  and  no  niche  was 
left  for  him.  But  he  was  too  honest  a  public 
servant  to  consider  this,  and  he  repined  not 
at  all  when  precisely  this  result  came  about. 
Congress  lost  no  time  in  following  his  sugges 
tions,  leaving  Franklin  in  Paris,  and  ordering 
Lee  to  Madrid,  at  the  same  time  in  a  strange 
perplexity  overlooking  Mr.  Adams  so  entirely 
as  not  even  to  order  him  to  return  home.  He 
was  greatly  vexed  and  puzzled  at  this  anomalous 
condition.  Dr.  Franklin,  who  was  finding  life 
near  the  French  court  very  pleasant,  advised 


FIRST  FOREIGN  MISSION  153 

him  tranquilly  to  await  instructions.  But  this 
counsel  did  not  accord  with  his  active  tempera 
ment  or  his  New  England  sense  of  duty.  He 
wrote  to  his  wife  :  "  I  cannot  eat  pensions  and 
sinecures  ;  they  would  stick  in  my  throat." 
Rather  than  do  so,  he  said  that  he  would  again 
run  the  gauntlet  of  the  British  cruisers  and  the 
storms  of  the  Atlantic.  It  was  no  easy  matter, 
however,  to  get  a  passage  in  those  days,  and  his  ^ 
best  endeavors  did  not  bring  him  back  to  Bos 
ton  until  August  2,  1779,  after  an  absence  of 
nearly  a  year  andjjjhalf.  In  a  certain  sense 
his  mission  had  been  needless  and  useless.  He 
had  been  away  a  long  while,  had  undergone 
great  dangers,  and  had  cost  the  country  money 
which  could  ill  be  spared  ;  and  for  all  that  he 
had*  accomplished  strictly  in  the  way  of  diplo-  " 
niacy  he  mi^ht  as  well  have  spent  the  eighteen 
But  he  had  aided  to 


execrable  condition  of   affairs  at 
Paris,  and  he  had  proved  his  entire  and  un-    / 
selfish  devotion  to  the  public  interest.     These 
were  two  important  facts,  worth  in  their  fruits 
all  they  had  cost  to  the  nation  and  to  himself. 

He  had  moreover  gathered  some  ideas  con 
cerning  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Holland. 
These  ideas  were  not  wholly  correct,  being  col 
ored  by  the  atmosphere  of  the  passing  day  and 
stimulated  too  much  by  his  own  wishes  ;  but 


154  JOHN  ADAMS. 

they  promoted  the  temporary  advantages  of  the 
states  very  well.  For  example,  he  came  back 
with  a  theory  of  the  decadence  of  Great  Brit 
ain.  "  This  power,"  he  said,  "loses  every  day 
her  consideration,  and  runs  towards  her  ruin. 
Her  riches,  in  which  her  power  consisted,  she 
has  lost  with  us  and  never  can  regain.  .  .  .  She 
resembles  the  melancholy  spectacle  of  a  great, 
wide-spreading  tree  that  has  been  girdled  at  the 
root."  There  was  no  grain  of  truth  in  this  sort 
of  talk,  but  it  was  nourishment  to  the  American 
Congress.  Towards  France  his  feelings  were 
of  course  most  friendly.  "  The  longer  I  live  in 
Europe,  and  the  more  I  consider  our  affairs, 
the  more  important  our  alliance  with  France 
appears  to  me.  It  is  a  rock  upon  which  we 
may  safely  build.  Narrow  and  illiberal  preju 
dices,  peculiar  to  John  Bull,  with  which  I  might 
perhaps  have  been  in  some  degree  infected 
when  I  was  John  Bull,  have  now  no  influence 
over  me.  I  never  was,  however,  much  of  John 
Bull,  I  was  John  Yankee,  and  such  I  shall  live 
and  die."  A  very  single-minded  John  Yankee 
he  certainly  was,  for  amid  all  his  yearning  for 
a  French  alliance,  which  he  valued  for  its  prac 
tical  usefulness,  he  was  jealous  of  too  great  a 
subservience  to  that  power. 

"  It  is  a  delicate  and  dangerous  connection.  .  .  . 
There  may  be  danger  that  too  much  will  be  demanded 


FIRST  FOREIGN  MISSION.  155 

of  us.  There  is  danger  that  the  people  and  their 
representatives  may  have  too  much  timidity  in  their 
conduct  towards  this  power,  and  that  your  ministers 
here  may  have  too  much  diffidence  of  themselves 
and  too  much  complaisance  for  the  court.  There  is 
danger  that  French  councils  and  emissaries  and  cor 
respondents  may  have  too  much  influence  in  our  de 
liberations.  I  hope  that  this  court  may  not  inter 
fere  by  attaching  themselves  to  persons,  parties,  or 
measures  in  America." 

Again  he  wrote  that  it  would  be  desirable  to 
link  the  two  countries  very  closely  together, 
"provided  always,  that  we  preserve  prudence 
and  resolution  enough  to  receive  implicitly  no 
advice  whatever,  but  to  judge  always  for  our 
selves,"  etc.,  etc.  Within  a  few  months  the 
need  of  this  watchful  independence  was  abun 
dantly  proved ;  and  the  early  years  of  the  his 
tory  of  the  United  States  fully  justified  Adams's 
cautious  dread  of  an  undue  warmth  of  senti 
ment  towards  France. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

SECOND   FOREIGN    MISSION:    IN    FRANCE   AND 
HOLLAND. 

SCARCELY  was  Mr.  Adams  given  time  to 
make  his  greetings  to  his  friends,  after  his  re 
turn  through  the  gauntlet  of  storms  and  British 
cruisers,  ere  he  was  again  set  at  work.  A  con 
vention  was  summoned  to  prepare  a  constitu 
tion  for  Massachusetts,  and  he  was  chosen  a 
delegate.  It  was  a  congenial  task,  and  he  was 
early  assuming  an  active  and  influential  part 
in  the  proceedings  when,  more  to  his  surprise 
than  to  his  gratification,  he  was  interrupted  by 
receiving  a  second  time  the  honor  of  a  foreign 
mission.  The  history  of  the  establishment  of 
diplomatic  relations  between  the  new  states  of 
North  America  and  the  old  countries  of  Europe, 
the  narrative  of  the  reluctant  and  clumsy  ap 
proaches  by  England  towards  a  negotiation  for 
peace,  and  especially  the  intricate  tale  of  the 
subtle  manoeuvres  of  the  French  foreign  office 
in  connection  with  its  trans-Atlantic  allies  and 
supposed  dear  friends,  together  form  a  remark- 


SECOND  FOREIGN  MISSION.  157 

ably  interesting  chapter  in  American  history. 
All  the  complexities  of  this  web,  involved  be 
yond  the  average  of  diplomatic  labyrinths, 
have  been  unraveled  with  admirable  clearness 
by  Mr.  C.  F.  Adams  in  his  life  of  John  Adams. 
A  writer  more  competent  to  the  difficult  task 
could  not  have  been  desired,  and  he  has  so  per 
formed  it  that  no  successor  can  do  more  than 
follow  his  lucid  and  generally  fair  and  dispas 
sionate  recital.  His  account  of  his  grandfather 
is  naturally  tinged  with  the  sentiment  of  the 
plus  JEneas  ;  neither  on  the  other  hand  can  he 
condone  the  French  minister's  selfishness  and 
duplicity,  though  really  not  excessive  according 
to  the  technical  code  of  morals  in  European  for 
eign  offices  of  that  day.  But  otherwise  his  ac 
count  of  these  events  is  keen,  just,  vivid,  and 
exhaustive. 

During  the  period  with  which  we  have  now 
to  deal,  the  Count  de  Vergennes  managed  the 
foreign  affairs  of  France.  He  was  a  diplomate 
of  that  school  with  which  picturesque  writers 
of  historical  romance  have  made  us  so  familiar, 
a  character  as  classic  as  the  crusty  father  of 
the  British  stage  ;  of  great  ability,  wily,  far- 
sighted,  inscrutable,  with  no  liking  for  any 
country  save  France,  and  no  hatred  for  any 
country  except  England,  firm  in  the  old-fash 
ioned  faith  that  honesty  had  no  place  in  poli- 


158  JOHN  ADAMS. 

tics,  especially  in  diplomacy  ;  apt  and  graceful 
in  the  distinguished  art  of  professional  lying, 
overbearing  and  imperious  as  became  the  vin 
dicator  and  representative  of  the  power  of  the 
French  monarchy.  Such  was  this  famous  min 
ister,  a  dangerous  and  difficult  man  with  whom 
to  have  dealings.  From  the  beginning  to  the 
end  of  his  close  connection  with  American  af 
fairs  he  played  the  game  wholly  for  his  own 
hand,  with  some  animosity  towards  his  oppo 
nent,  but  with  not  the  slightest  idea  of  commit 
ting  the  folly  of  the  pettiest  self-sacrifice  for 
the  assistance  of  his  nominal  partners.  They 
were  really  to  help  him ;  he  was  apparently  to 
help  them.  It  is  now  substantially  proved  that 
the  unmixed  motive  of  the  French  cabinet  in 
secretly  encouraging  and  aiding  the  revolted 
colonies,  before  open  war  had  broken  out  be 
tween  France  and  England,  had  been  only  tot 
weaken  the  power  and  to  sap  the  permanent 
resources  of  the  natural  and  apparently  the 
eternal  enemy  of  France.  After  that  war  had 
been  declared,  the  same  purpose  constituted  the 
sole  inducement  to  the  alliance  with  the  Amer 
ican  rebels.  To  the  government  of  France, 
therefore,  thus  actuated,  no  gratitude  was  due 
from  the  colonists  at  any  time,  and  in  de  Ver- 
gennes,  as  the  embodiment  of  the  foreign  pol 
icy  of  that  government,  no  confidence  could  be 


SECOND  FOREIGN  MISSION.  159 

safely  reposed.  Yet  the  kindly  feeling  of  grat 
itude  and  the  sense  of  obligation  cherished  for 
a  generation  in  America  towards  France  were 
not  wholly  erroneous  or  misplaced  ;  for  a  con 
siderable  proportion  of  the  French  people  were 
warmly  and  generously  interested  in  the  suc 
cess  of  the  Revolution,  and  many  individuals 
gave  it  not  only  sincere  good-will  but  substan 
tial  aid.  Yet,  though  it  is  fair  to  mention  and 
to  remember  this  fact,  we  shall  have  nothing 
more  to  do  with  it  in  this  narrative. 

Mr.  Adams  had  to  deal  with  the  governors, 
not  with  the  governed.  But  when  he  first  came 
to  the  country  he  no  more  understood  than  did 
the  rest  of  his  countrymen  the  real  difference 
involved  in  this  distinction.  France  was  but 
an  integral  idea  for  him,  and  he  approached  her 
people  and  her  government  alike  with  an  un- 
discriminating  though  somewhat  cautious  feel 
ing  of  trust.  It  is  important  to  note  this  fact, 
evidence  of  which  may  be  found  in  some  of  his 
language  quoted  at  the  close  of  the  last  chap 
ter,  because  it  indicates  that  his  subsequent 
suspicions  of  de  Vergennes  were  the  outgrowth 
of  observation  and  not  of  any  original  disliking. 
Neither  were  these  suspicions,  which,  it  must 
be  acknowledged,  were  soon  awakened,  stimu 
lated  by  Mr.  Adams's  natural  temperament ; 
for  though  he  had  a  strong  element  of  suspicion 


160  JOHN  ADAMS. 

in  him,  it  was  seldom  set  in  action  by  any  other 
spur  than  jealousy.  The  feeling  towards  the 
Frenchman  was  the  keen  instinct  of  a  man  at 
once  shrewd  and  honest,  which  had  satisfied 
him  of  the  true  condition  of  affairs  even  during 
his  first  visit  to  France.  Almost  alone  among 
his  countrymen,  he  even  then  saw  that  it  was 
unwise  for  the  colonies  to  give  themselves  blind 
fold  to  the  guidance  of  the  great  French  min 
ister.  For  a  long  while  he  was,  if  not  entirely 
solitary,  yet  at  least  with  few  co-believers  in 
this  faith,  and  at  times  he  occupied  an  invid 
ious  and  dangerous  position  by  reason  of  it. 
But  by  good  fortune  he  persisted  in  it,  and  in 
all  his  action  was  controlled  by  it ;  and  if  he 
can  hardly  be  said  thereby  to  have  been  led  to 
save  his  country  in  spite  of  herself,  yet  at  least 
it  is  undeniable  that  through  this  he  accom 
plished  for  her  very  much  which  would  never 
have  been  accomplished  by  any  person  holding 
a  different  opinion  in  so  vital  a  matter. 

Through  the  medium  of  M.  Gerard,  the 
French  minister,  or  emissary  to  Congress,  ad 
vices  came  in  the  autumn  of  1779  that  England 
might  'not  improbably  soon  be  ready  to  nego 
tiate  for  peace.  In  order  to  lose  no  time  when 
this  happy  moment  should  be  at  hand,  it  was 
thought  best  to  have  an  American  envoy,  pre 
pared  to  treat,  stationed  in  Europe  to  avail  of 


SECOND  FOREIGN  MISSION.  161 

the  first  opportunity  which  should  occur.  For 
this  purpose,  as  has  been  said,  Mr.  Adams  was 

selected  ;^on  November  3,  1779,  he~"received 

^,,  "~>>^.  *>  ~    in  i  _ .      '~ 

notice  of  his  appointment,  and  on  the  next  day 
he  accepted  it,  with  some  expressions  of  reluc 
tance  and  diffidence,  which  were  probably  sin 
cere,  since  the  mission  was  attended  with  both 
pfiysical  danger  and  the  gravest  possible  re 
sponsibility.  On  November  13  he  put  to  sea 
in  the  frigate  Le  Sensible.  She  proved  to  be 
so  unsea worthy  that  she  could  barely  be 
brought  into  the  port  of  Ferrol  in  safety  ;  and 
the  passengers  were  compelled  to  make  a  long, 
tedious  journey  by  land  to  Paris,  amid  hard 
ships  so  severe  that  they  seem  incredible  as  oc 
curring  in  a  civilized  country  of  Europe  less 
than  a  century  ago. 

Before  Mr.  Adams's  instructions  had  been 
drafted,  the  noxious  and  perfidious  influence  of 
de  Vgrgennes,  —  noxious  and  perfidious,  that  is 
to  say,  from  an  American  point  of  view,  — had 
had  its  first  effect.  For  a  while  that  minister's 
desire  bad  been  that  the  war  should  draw  along 
a  weary  and  endless  length,  in  order  the  more 
thoroughly  to  drain  the  vitality  of  England. 
How  severely  the  vitality  of  the  colonies  might 
also  be  drained  was  matter  of  indifference,  so 
long  as  they  retained  strength  enough  to  con 
tinue  fighting.  To  keep  them  up  to  their  work 
11 


162  JOHN  ADAMS. 

his  plan  had  been  to  give  them  tonics,  in  the 
shape  of  money,  arms,  and  encouragement,  se 
cretly  administered  in  such  quantities  as  should 
be  necessary  in  order  to  prevent  their  succumb 
ing  ;  but  he  had  not  cared  to  give  them  enough 
assistance,  though  it  might  be  possible  to  do  so, 
to  enable  them  quite  to  conclude  the  struggle. 
Even  the  open  outbreak  of  hostility  between 
France  and  England  had  modified  his  designs 
only  a  little,  and  had  affected  the  details  rather 
than  changed  the  fundamental  theory  of  his 
action.  Now,  however,  affairs  having  drifted 
to  that  point  that  the  war  seemed  to  be  almost 
\  fought  out,  and  peace  looming  apparently  not 
very  far  away,  he  recognized  only  a  sole  object 
as  necessary  so  far  as  the  revolted  states  were 
concerned.  He  must  see  them  independent; 
so  mighty  a  limb  must  be  lopped  forever  from 
the  parent  trunk.  Beyond  this  he  cared  for 
nothing  else ;  as  for  all  the  points  which  were 
of  highest  moment  and  dearest  interest  to  those 
states,  his  dear  and  confiding  allies,  points  of 
boundaries,  fisheries,  navigation  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  and  such  like,  he  cared  not  in  the  least  for 
any  of  these.  The  earliest  indication  of  the  feel 
ing  in  Congress  had  been  that  stipulations  con 
cerning  these  three  matters  should  be  inserted 
in  the  instructions  to  the  American  negotiator 
as  ultimata.  But  this  by  no  means  consorted 


SECOND   FOREIGN  MISSION.  163 

with  the  views  of  de  Vergennes,  who  saw  that 
such  ultimata  might  operate  to  obstruct  a  paci 
fication  desirable  for  France,  if  England  should 
resolutely  refuse  them  ;  whereas,  if  they  were 
urgent  demands  only  and  not  ultimata,  the 
sacrifice  of  them  might  indirectly  effect  some 
gain  for  France.  They  might  be  used  as  a 
price  to  Great  Britain,  and  the  thing  bought 
with  them  might  inure  to  France.  Accord 
ingly  the  strenuous  efforts  of  M,  Gerard  were 
put  forth,  and  finally  with  success,  to  pare  down 
the  Congressional  instructions  to  the  modest 
form  desired  by  de  Vergennes.  It  was  voted 
that  the  envoy  in  treating  for  peace  should  have 
as  his~only  ultimatum  the  recognition  by  Great  ^ 
Britain  of  the  independence  of  the  ex-colonies. 
But7~in  order  not  to  abandon  altogether  these 
other  important  matters,  he  received  also  an 
other  and  distinct  commission  for  entering  into 
a  commercial  treaty,  and  in  this  he  was  directed 
to  secure  the  "  right "  to  the  fisheries. 

Massachusetts  watched  all  this  with  extreme 
anxiety.  The  fisheries  were  to  her  matter  of 
profound  concern,  far  surpassing  any  question 
of  boundary,  and  of  vastly  deeper  interest  than 
the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi.  She  was  in 
exorably  resolved  that  this  great  industry  of 
her  people  should  never  be  annihilated.  To 
this  resolution  of  so  influential  a  state  the  ap- 


164  JOHN  ADAMS. 

pointment  of  Mr.  Adams  was  largely  due.  The 
matter  of  the  foreign  representation  of  the  col 
onies  at  this  time  was  complicated  by  many  in 
trigues  and  quarrels,  local  jealousies,  and  per 
sonal  animosities.  Thus  it  happened  that  New 
York  and  other  states  were  willing  to  send  Mr. 
Adams  to  Spain,  but  wished  Mr.  Jay  to  be  the 
negotiator  for  peace.  This  arrangement  would 
have  sufficiently  pleased  de  Vergennes  also, 
whose  keen  perception  and  accurate  advices 
had  already  marked  Mr.  Adams  as  a  man  likely 
to  be  obstructive  to  purely  French  interests. 
But  the  New  Englanders  clung  with  unflinch 
ing  stubbornness  to  their  countryman.  They 
are  said  to  have  felt  that,  ultimatum  or  no  ulti 
matum,  he  would  save  their  fisheries  if  it  were 
a  human  possibility  to  do  so.  They  prevailed. 
Jay  was  appointed  to  Madrid,  and  Adams  gojb 
the  contingent  commissions  to  England,  for 
both  peace  and  commerce.  In  the  end  Adams 
was  chiefly  instrumental  in  saving  the  fisheries, 
and  if  the  choice  of  him  was  stimulated  by  this 
hope,  the  instinct  or  judgment  appeared  to 
have  been  correct.  Yet  it  is  perhaps  worth  no 
ticing  that  his  sentiments  on  this  subject  at 
this  time  were  hardly  identical  with  his  subse 
quent  expressions  at  Paris.  "  Necessity,"  he 
said,  "  has  taught  us  to  dig  in  the  ground  in 
stead  of  fishing  in  the  sea  for  our  bread,  and 


SECOND  FOREIGN  MISSION.  165 

we  have  found  that  the  resource  did  not  fail  us. 
The  fishing  was  a  source  of  luxury  and  vanity 
that  did  us  much  injury."  Part  of  the  fish 
had  been  exchanged  in  the  West  Indies  "  for 
rum,  and  molasses  to  be  distilled  into  rum, 
which  injured  our  health  and  our  morals  ; "  the 
rest  came  back  from  Europe  in  the  shape  of 
lace  and  ribbons.  To  be  compelled  to  substi 
tute  the  culture  of  flax  and  wool  for  fishing, 
would  conduce  to  an  "acquisition  of  morals 
and  of  wisdom  which  would  perhaps  make  us 
gainers  in  the  end."  Yet  when  it  came  actu 
ally  to  negotiating,  Mr.  Adams  forgot  all  this 
horror  of  rum  and  frippery,  all  this  desire  for 
flax,  wool,  and  morals,  and  made  a  fight  for 
salt  fish  which  won  for  him  even  more  closely 
than  before  the  heart  of  New  England. 

Mr.  Adams  was  a  singular  man  ito  be  selected 
for  a  difficult  errand  in  diplomacy,  especially 
under  circumstances  demanding  wariness  and 
adroitness,  if  not  even  craft  and  dissimulation. 
He  might  have  been  expected  to  prove  but  an 
indifferent  player  in  the  most  intricate  and  ar 
tificial  of  invented  games.  He  seemed  to  pos 
sess  nearly  every  quality  which  a  diplomatist 
ought  not  to  have,  and  almost  no  quality  which 
a  diplomatist  needed.  That  he  was  utterly  de 
void  of  experience  was  the  least  objection,  for 
so  were  all  his  countrymen,  and  it  was  hoped 


166  JOHN  ADAMS. 

that  the  friendly  aid  of  de  Vergennes  might 
make  up  for  this  defect.  But  further  than  this 
he  was  of  a  restless,  eager  temperament,  hot  to 
urge  forward  whatever  business  he  had  in  hand, 
chafing  under  any  necessity  for  patience,  dislik 
ing  to  bide  his  time,  frank  and  outspoken  in 
spite  of  bis  best  efforts  at  self-control,  and  hope 
lessly  incapable  of  prolonged  concealment  of  his 
opinions,  motives,  and  purposes  in  action,  his 
likings  and  dislikings  towards  persons.  It  has 
been  seen,  for  example,  how  cautiously  he  tried 
to  conceal  his  wish  for  the  declaration  of  inde 
pendence,  yet  every  one  in  Congress  soon  knew 
him  as  the  chief  promoter  of  that  doctrine ;  and 
already,  in  his  brief  and  unimportant  sojourn  in 
France,  de  Vergennes  had  got  far  in  reading  his 
mind.  Yet  it  so  happened  that,  with  every 
such  prognostic  against  him,  he  was  precisely 
the  man  for  the  place  and  the  duty.  With  the 
shrewdness  of  his  race  he  had  considerable  in- 
p  sight  into  character ;  a  strong  element  of  sus 
picion  led  him  not  quite  to  assume,  as  he  might 
have  done,  that  all  diplomatists  were  dishonest, 
but  induced  him  to-  watch  them  with  a  wise 
doubt  and  keenness  ;  he  had  devoted  all  the 
powers  of  a  strong  mind  to  the  study  of  the 
situation,  so  that  he  was  thoroughly  master  of 
all  the  various  interests  and  probabilities  which 
it  was  necessary  for  him  to  take  into  account ; 


SECOND  FOREIGN  M 1 'SSI 'ON.  167 

he  was  a  patriot  to  the  very  centre  of  his  mar 
row,  and  so  fearless  and  stubborn  that  he  both 
made  and  persisted  in  the  boldest  demands  on 
behalf  of  his   country ;    he   was  high-spirited, 
too,  and  presented  such  a  front  that  he  seemed 
to  represent  one  of  the  greatest  powers  in  the 
civilized  world,   so  that,  in  spite  of  the  well- 
known  fact  that  he  had   only  some    revolted 
and  more  than  half  exhausted  colonies  at  his 
back,  yet  his  manly  bearing  had  great  moral 
effect ;  if  it  was  true  that  quick-sighted  states 
men  easily  saw  what  he  wanted,  it  was  also 
true  that  he  impressed  them  with  a  sense  that 
he  would  make  a  hard  fight  to  get  it ;  they 
could  never  expect  to  bully  him,  and  not  easily 
to  circumvent  him ;  if  he  made  enemies,  as  he 
did,  powerful,  dangerous,  and  insidious  ones,  he 
at  least  showed  admirable  sturdiness  and  cour 
age  in  facing  them  ;  he  was  eloquent  and  forci 
ble  in  discussion,  making  a  deep  impression  by 
an  air  of  earnest  straightforwardness  ;  all  these 
proved  valuable  qualifications  upon  the  pecul 
iar  mission  on  which  he  was  now  dispatched. 
Had  the  business  of  the  colonies  been  conducted 
by  a  diplomatist  of  the  European  school,  burrow 
ing  subterraneously  in  secret  mines  and  coun 
termines,  endeavoring  to  meet  art  with  wiles, 
and  diplomatic  lies  with  professional  falsehood, 
valuable  time  would  surely  have  been  lost,  and 


168  JOHN  ADAMS. 

smaller  advantages  would  probably  have  been 
gained ;  but  Adams  strode  along  stoutly  in 
broad  daylight,  breaking  the  snares  which  were 
set  for  his  feet,  shouldering  aside  those  who 
sought  to  crowd  him  from  his  path,  unceremo 
nious,  making  direct  for  his  goal,  with  his  eyes 
wide  open  and  his  tongue  not  silent  to  speak 
the  plain  truth.  Certainly  this  trans-Atlantic 
negotiator  excited  surprise  by  his  anomalous 
and  untraditional  conduct  among  the  ministers 
and  envoys  of  the  European  cabinets ;  but  in  the 
end  he  proved  too  much  for  them  all ;  their 
peculiar  skill  was  of  no  avail  against  his  novel 
and  original  tactics  ;  their  covert  indirection 
could  not  stand  before  his  blunt  directness. 
So  he  carried  his  points  with  brilliant  success. 

Yet  it  is  not  to  be  inferred  from  this  record 
of  achievements  that  Mr.  Adams  was  a  good 
diplomatist,  or  that  in  a  career  devoted  to  di 
plomacy  he  could  have  won  reputation  or  re 
peated  such  triumphs  as  are  about  to  be  nar- 
.  rated.  The  contrary  is  probable.  His  heat, 
quickness,  pugnacity,  want  of  tact,  and  naive 
J  egotism  could  not  have  been  compatible  with 
permanent  success  in  this  calling.  It  only  so 
happened  that  at  this  special  juncture,  peculiar 
and  exceptional  needs  existed  which  his  quali 
fications  fortunately  met.  Dr.  Franklin,  who 
was  our  minister  at  Versailles  at  this  time,  and 


SECOND  FOREIGN  MISSION.  169 

with  whom,  by  the  way,  Mr.  Adams  did  not 
get  along  very  well,  had  much  more  general 
fitness  for  diplomacy  according  to  the  usual  re 
quirements  of  the  profession  ;  cool  and  dispas 
sionate,  keen,  astute,  and  far-sighted,  by  no 
means  incapable  of  discovering  craft  and  of 
meeting  it  by  still  craftier  craft,  no  nation  in 
most  emergencies  could  have  wished  its  af 
fairs  in  better  hands  than  those  of  the  distin 
guished  philosopher,  as  he  was  commonly 
called,  though  in  fact  he  was  the  only  living 
American  of  note  in  1780  who  was  a  real  man 
of  the  world.  Yet  just  now  Franklin  was  al 
most  useless.  Leading  the  most  charming  life, 
caressed  by  the  French  women,  flattered  by 
the  French  men,  the  companion  of  the  noblest, 
the  wittiest,  and  "the  most  dissipated  in  the 
realm,  visiting,  dining,  feasting,  he  comforta 
bly  agreed  with  de  Vergennes,  and  quite  con 
tentedly  fell  in  with  that  minister's  policy.  It 
was  fortunate  for  the  colonies  that  for  a  time, 
just  at  this  crisis,  the  easy-going  sage  was 
forced  into  unwelcome  coupling  with  the  ener 
getic  man  of  business. 

Directly  after  his  arrival  in  Paris  Mr.  Adams 
wrote  to  de  Vergennes.  "  I  am  persuaded," 
he  says,  "  it  is  the  intention  of  my  constituents 
and  of  all  America,  and  I  am  sure  it  is  my  own 
determination,  to  take  no  steps  of  consequence 


170  JOHN  ADAMS. 

in  pursuance  of  my  commissions  without  con 
sulting  his  majesty's  ministers."  Accordingly 
he  asks  the  count's  advice  as  to  whether  he 
shall  make  his  twofold  errand  known  either 
to  the  public  or  to  the  court  of  London.  This 
was  abundantly  civil,  and  under  all  the  circum 
stances  not  quite  servile.  The  response  of  the 
Frenchman  was  extraordinary.  He  stated  that 
he  preferred  to  give  no  definite  reply  until  af 
ter  the  return  from  the  states  of  his  emissary, 
Monsieur  Gerard,  "  because  he  is  probably  the 
bearer  of  your  instructions,  and  will  certainly 
be  able  to  make  me  better  acquainted  with  the 
nature  and  extent  of  your  commission.  But 
in  the  meantime  I  am  of  opinion  that  it  will 
be  prudent  to  conceal  your  eventual  character, 
and  above  all  to  take  the  necessary  precautions 
that  the  object  of  your  commission  may  re 
main  unknown  at  the  court  of  London."  Mr. 
Adams  heard  with  an  indignation  which  he 
could  not  venture  to  express  this  audacious  in 
timation  of  a  design,  assumed  to  have  been 
successfully  carried  out,  to  "  penetrate  into  the 
secrets  of  Congress,"  and  obtain  "  copies  of  the 
most  confidential  communications  "  between 
that  body  and  its  ministers.  Neither  did  the 
advice  at  all  accord  with  his  own  notions.  He 
saw  no  sound  reason  for  keeping  the  object  of 
his  mission  a  secret ;  on  the  contrary,  he  would 


SECOND  FOREIGN  MISSION.  171 

decidedly  have  preferred  at  once  to  divulge  it, 
and  even  formally  to  communicate  it  to  the 
British  cabinet.  Probably  he  did  not  yet  sus 
pect  what  his  grandson  tells  us  was  the  true 
state  of  the  case  :  viz.,  that  de  Vergennes 
dreaded  the  possible  result  of  the  commercial 
portion  of  his  commission,  and  immediately 
upon  learning  it  set  agents  at  work  in  Phila 
delphia  to  procure  its  cancellation.  Neverthe 
less  he  answered  courteously  and  submissively, 
engaging  to  maintain  the  desired  concealment 
so  far  as  depended  upon  himself.  He  could 
not  do  otherwise  ;  it  was  intended  that  he 
should  subordinate  his  own  judgment  to  that 
of  his  French  friend.  But  he  wrote  to  the 
president  of  Congress  to  say  that  the  story  of 
his  mission  and  its  purpose  had  not  been,  as  of 
course  it  could  not  have  been,  kef)t  a  close  se 
cret,  but  on  the  contrary,  having  been  "  heard 
of  in  all  companies,"  had  been  used  by  the 
English  ministerial  writers  "  as  evidence  of  a 
drooping  spirit  in  America."  This,  however, 
concerned  only  his  authority  to  treat  for  peace. 
A  few  days  later.  Monsieur  Gerard  having  ar 
rived,  de  Vergennes  did  Mr.  Adams  the  honor 
to  say  that  he  found  that  Mr.  Adams  had  given 
him  a  truthful  statement  of  his  instructions. 
He  was  willing  now  to  have  Mr.  Adams's 
"  eventual  character,"'  but  meaning  thereby 


172  JOHN  ADAMS. 

only  as  an  emissary  for  peace,  made  public 
very  soon.  He  still  persisted  in  demanding  se 
crecy  as  to  "  the  full  powers  which  authorize 
you  to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  commerce  with  the 
court  of  London.  I  think  it  will  be  prudent 
not  to  communicate  them  to  anybody  whatever, 
and  to  take  every  necessary  precaution  that 
the  British  ministry  may  not  have  a  premature 
knowledge  of  them.  You  will  no  doubt  easily 
feel  the  motives  which  induce  me  to  advise  you 
to  take  this  precaution,  and  it  would  be  need 
less  to  explain."  Mr.  Adams  did  indeed  soon 
begin  to  comprehend  these  "  motives  "  with 
sufficient  accuracy  to  make  explanations  almost 
"  needless  ;  "  yet  for  the  present  he  held  his 
tongue  with  such  patience  as  he  could  com 
mand. 

This  correspondence  took  place  in  February, 
1780  ;  but  it  was  not  till  the  end  of  March  and 
after  further  stimulation  of  de  Vergennes' 
careless  memory,  that  Mr.  Adams  carried  his 
point  of  procuring  publication  even  of  the 
"principal  object "  of  his  mission.  "I  ought 
to  confess  to  Congress,"  he  said,  with  a  slight 
irony  in  the  choice  of  phrases  not  unworthy  of 
the  count  himself,  "  that  the  delicacy  of  the 
Count  de  Vergennes  about  communicating  my 
powers  is  not  perfectly  consonant  to  my  man 
ner  of  thinking ;  and  if  I  had  followed  my  own 


SECOND  FOREIGN  MISSI01 

judgment,  I  should  have  pursued  a  bolder 
by  communicating  immediately  after  my  arrival 
to  Lord  George  Germain  my  full  powers  to 
treat  both  of  peace  and  commerce."  Yet  he 
modestly  hopes  that  Congress  will  approve  his 
deference  to  the  French  minister.  There  was 
little  danger  that  they  would  not  ;  it  was  only 
Mr.  Adams's  boldness  and  independence,  never 
his  submissiveness,  which  imperilled  his  good 
standing  with  that  now  spiritless  body. 

Mr.  Adams  said  of  himself  with  perfect  truth, 
that  he  could  not  eat  the  bread  of  idleness. 
His  restless  energy  always  demanded  some  out 
let,  whereas  now  he  found  himself  likely  to  re 
main  for  an  indefinite  time  without  a  duty  or 
a  task.  He  was  free  to  enjoy  with  a  clear 
conscience  all  the  novel  fascinations  of  the  gay 
est  city  of  the  world,  having  the  public  purse 
open  to  his  hand  and  perfect  idleness  as  his 
only  official  function  for  the  passing  time. 
Such  an  opportunity  would  not  have  been 
thrown  away  by  most  men ;  but  for  him  the 
pursuit  of  ease  and  pleasure,  even  as  a  tempo 
rary  recess  and  with  ample  excuse,  meant 
wretchedness.  Without  delay  he  set  himself 
to  discover  some  occupation,  to  find  some  toil, 
to  devise  some  opening  for  activity.  This  he 
soon  saw  in  the  utter  ignorance  of  the  people 
about  him  concerning  American  affairs,  and  he 


174  JOHN  ADAMS. 

entered  upon  the  work  of  enlightening  them 
by  a  series  of  articles,  which  he  prepared  and 
caused  to  be  translated  and  published  in  a 
prominent  newspaper,  edited  by  M.  Genet,  a 
chief  secretary  in  the  foreign  office,  father  of 
Edmond  Genet,  the  famous  French  minister  to 
the  United  States  in  Washington's  time.  This 
well-meant  and  doubtless  useful  enterprise, 
however,  ultimately  brought  him  into  trouble, 
as  his  zeal  was  constantly  doing  throughout  his 
life  in  ways  that  always  seemed  to  him  grossly 
undeserved  and  the  hardest  of  luck.  For  at 
the  request  of  de  Vergennes,  whose  attention 
was  attracted  by  these  publications,  he  now  be 
gan  to  furnish  often  to  that  gentleman  a  va 
riety  of  interesting  items  of  information  from 
the  states,  of  which  more  will  soon  be  heard. 
He  further  kept  up  an  active  volunteer  corre 
spondence  with  Congress,  sending  them  all 
sorts  of  news,  facts  which  he  observed  and 
heard,  conjectures  and  suggestions  from  his 
own  brain,  which  he  conceived  might  be  of  use 
or  interest  to  them.  In  a  word,  he  did  vigor 
ously  many  things  which  might  naturally  have 
been  expected  from  Franklin,  but  which  that 
tranquil  philosopher  had  not  permitted  to  dis 
turb  his  daily  ease. 

For  a  time  all  went  well ;  Franklin,  secure  in 
his  great  prestige,  contemplated  with  indifTer- 


SECOND  FOREIGN  MISSION.  175 

ence  the  busy  intrusion  of  Adams ;  de  Vergennes 
was  glad  to  get  all  he  could  from  so  effusive  a 
source,  and  Congress  seemed  sufficiently  pleased 
with  the  one-sided  correspondence.  Yet  a  cau 
tious  man,  worldly-wise  and  selfish,  would  never 
have  done  as  Adams  was  doing,  and  in  due 
time,  without  any  consciousness  at  all  that  he 
deserved  such  retribution,  he  found  himself  in 
trouble.  Early  in  1780,  Congress  issued  a  rec-. 
ommendation  to  the  several  states  to  arrange 
for  the  redemption  in  silver  of  the  continental 
paper  money  at  the  rate  of  forty '  dollars  for 
one.  The  adoption  of  this  advice  by  Massa 
chusetts,  and  the  laying  of  a  tax  by  that  state  £^_ 
to  provide  the  money  for  her  share,  were  an 
nounced  to  Mr.  Adams  in  a  letter  of  June  16, 
1780,  from  his  brother-in-law,  Richard  Cranch. 
A  copy  of  this  letter  he  promptly  sent  to  de 
Vergennes.  Immediately  afterwards  he  re 
ceived  further  news  of  a  resolution  of  Congress 
to  pay  the  continental  loan  certificates  accord 
ing  to  their  value  in  real  money  at  the  time  of 
their  issue.  A  copy  of  this  letter  also  he  for 
warded  to  M.  de  Vergennes,  with  a  letter  of 
his  own,  explaining,  says  Mr.  C.  F.  Adams,  the 
"  distinction  between  the  action  of  Congress  on 
the  paper  money  and  on  the  loan  certificates, 
which  that  body  had  neglected  to  make  clear." l 

1  V.  Dipt.  Corr.  of  the  Amer.  Rev.  207. 


176  JOHN  ADAMS. 

The  letter  is  brief,  and  seems  fully  as  much 
deprecatory  as  explanatory.  But  whatever  was 
its  character,  it  was  a  mistake.  Mr.  Adams 
would  have  done  better  to  allow  such  disagree 
able  intelligence  to  reach  the  count  through 
the  regular  channels  of  communication.  He 
was  under  no  sort  of  obligation  to  send  the 
news,  nor  to  explain  it,  nor  to  enter  on  any  de 
fense  ;  indeed,  had  he  held  his  tongue,  it  was 
not  supposable  that  the  count  would  ever  have 
known  when  or  how  fully  he  had  got  his  infor 
mation.  Moreover,  it  was  in  his  discretion  to 
make  such  communications  to  the  count  as  he 
saw  fit;  if  it  was  not  meddlesome  in  him  to 
make  any,  at  least  it  was  indiscreet  in  him  to 
make  these  especial  ones.  His  punishment  was 
swift.  De  Vergennes  at  once  took  fire  on  be 
half  of  his  countrymen,  who  were  numerously 
and  largely  creditors  of  the  colonies.  He  wrote 
to  Mr.  Adams  a  letter  far  from  pleasant  in 
tone.  "  Such  financial  measures,"  he  said, 
"  might  be  necessary,  but  their  burden  should 
fall  on  the  Americans  alone,  and  an  exception 
ought  to  be  made  in  favor  of  strangers." 

"  In  order  to  make  you  sensible  of  the  truth  of 
this  observation,  I  will  only  remark,  sir,  that  the 
Americans  alone  ought  to  support  the  expense  which 
is  occasioned  by  the  defense  of  their  liberty,  and  that 
they  ought  to  consider  the  depreciation  of  their  paper 


SECOND  FOREIGN  MISSION.  177 

money  only  as  an  impost  which  ought  to  fall  upon 
themselves,  as  the  paper  money  was  at  first  estab 
lished  only  to  relieve  them  from  the  necessity  of  pay 
ing  taxes.  I  will  only  add  that  the  French,  if  they 
are  obliged  to  submit  to  the  reduction  proposed  by 
Congress,  will  find  themselves  victims  of  their  zeal, 
and  I  may  say  of  the  rashness  with  which  they  ex 
posed  themselves  in  furnishing  the  Americans  with 
arms,  ammunition,  and  clothing,  and  in  a  word  with 
all  things  of  the  first  necessity,  of  which  the  Amer 
icans  at  the  time  stood  in  need." 

Having  delivered  this  severe  and  offensive 
criticism,  the  writer  expressed  his  confidence 
that  Mr.  Adams  would  use  all  his  endeavors  to 
engage  Congress  to  do  justice  to  the  subjects 
of  the  king,  and  further  stated  that  the  Cheva 
lier  de  la  Luzerne,  French  minister  at  Philadel 
phia,  had  "  orders  to  make  the  strongest  repre 
sentations  on  this  subject." 

Mr.  Adams,  thus  rudely  smitten,  began  im 
perfectly  to  appreciate  the  position  into  which 
his  naive  and  unreflecting  simplicity  had 
brought  him.  He  instantly  replied,  hoping 
that  the  orders  to  de  la  Luzerne  might  be  held 
back  until  Dr.  Franklin  could  communicate 
with  the  French  government.  It  was  rather 
late  to  remember  that  the  whole  business  lay 
properly  in  Franklin's  department,  and  unfor 
tunately  the  tardy  gleam  of  prudence  was  only 
12 


178  JOHN  ADAMS. 

a  passing  illumination.  Actually  under  date 
of  the  same  day  on  which  this  reply  was  sent, 
the  Diplomatic  Correspondence  contains  a  very 
long  and  elaborate  argument,  addressed  by  Mr. 
Adams  to  de  Vergennes,  wherein  the  ever- 
ready  diplomate  gratuitously  endeavored  to 
vindicate  the  action  of  Congress.  It  was  a 
difficult  task  which  he  so  readily  assumed ;  for 
though,  if  it  is  ever  honest  for  a  government 
to  force  creditors  to  take  less  than  it  has  prom 
ised  to  them,  it  was  justifiable  for  the  colonial 
Congress  and  the  several  states  to  do  so  at 
this  time,  yet  it  is  by  no  means  clear  that 
such  a  transaction  is  ever  excusable.  More 
over,  apart  from  this  doubt,  Mr.  Adams  was 
addressing  an  argument  to  a  man  sure  to  be 
incensed  by  it,  not  open  to  conviction,  and  in 
the  first  flush  of  anger.  Adams  afterwards 
said  that  he  might  easily  have  shunned  this 
argument,  as  Franklin  did,  by  sending  the 
French  minister's  letter  to  Congress,  and  ex 
pressing  no  opinion  of  his  own  to  de  Vergennes. 
But  this  course  he  condemned  as  "  duplicity," 
and  declared :  "  I  thought  it  my  indispensable 
duty  to  my  country  and  to  Congress,  to  France 
and  the  count  himself,  to  be  explicit."  Mr. 
C.  F.  Adams  also  tries  to  show  that  his  ances 
tor  could  not  have  shunned  this  effort  with 
out  compromising  himself  or  his  countrymen. 


SECOND  FOREIGN  MISSION.  179 

But  it  is  not  possible  to  take  these  views.  At 
the  outset  Mr.  Adams  was  at  perfect  liberty  to 
keep  silence,  and  would  have  been  wise  to  do  so. 
The  trouble  was  that  keeping  silence  was  some 
thing  he  could  never  do.  On  the  same  day  he 
wrote  to  Dr.  Franklin  a  sort  of  admonitory 
letter,  phrased  in  courteous  language  certainly, 
but  conveying  to  him  information  which  the 
doctor  might  well  feel  piqued  at  receiving  from 
such  a  source,  and  intimating  that  he  would  do 
well  to  bestir  himself  and  to  mend  matters 
without  more  delay.  Shortly  after  he  had  thus 
prodded  the  minister  of  the  states,  he  wrote 
two  letters  to  Congress,  containing  a  sufficiently 
fair  narrative  of  the  facts,  but  between  the 
lines  of  which  one  sees,  or  easily  fancies  that 
he  sees,  a  nascent  uneasiness,  a  dawning  sense 
of  having  been  imprudent.  The  same  is  visi 
ble  in  another  letter  to  Franklin,  dated  seven 
days  later,  in  which  the  now  anxious  and  for  a 
moment  self-distrustful  writer  begs  the  doctor, 
if  he  is  materially  wrong  in  any  part  of  his 
argument  to  de  Vergennes,  to  point  out  the 
error,  since  he  is  "open  to  conviction,"  and 
the  subject  is  one  "much  out  of  the  way  of 
[his]  particular  pursuits,"  so  that  he  naturally 
may  be  "  inaccurate  in  some  things."  The 
next  day  brought  a  curt  letter  from  de  Ver 
gennes,  embodying  a  sharp  snub.  Still  a  few 


180  JOHN  ADAMS. 

days  more  brought  a  letter  from  Franklin  to  de 
Vergennes,  in  which  the  American  said  that, 
though  he  did  not  yet  fully  understand  the 
whole  business,  he  could  at  least  see  that  for 
eigners  and  especially  Frenchmen  should  not 
be  permitted  to  suffer.  He  added  that  the  sen 
timents  of  the  colonists  in  general,  so  far  as  he 
had  been  able  to  learn  them  from  private  and 
public  sources,  "  differ  widely  from  those  that 
seem  to  be  expressed  by  Mr.  Adams  in  his 
letter  to  your  excellency."  Franklin  was  wrong 
in  these  assertions,  but  he  was  at  least  politic ; 
he  was  turning  aside  wrath,  gaining  time,  mak 
ing  the  blow  fall  by  slow  degrees. 

So  the  result  of  Mr.  Adams's  well-meant 
blunders  was  that  he  had  not  affected  the  opin 
ions  of  the  French  minister  in  the  least,  but 
that  he  had  secured  for  himself  the  ill-will  both 
of  that  powerful  diplomatist  and  of  Dr.  Frank 
lin.  They  both  snubbed  him,  and  of  course 
quickly  allowed  it  to  be  understood  by  mem- 
v  bers  of  Congress  that  Mr.  Adams  was  an  un 
welcome  busybody.  This  was  in  a  large  degree 
unjust  and  undeserved,  but  it  was  unfortu 
nately  plausible.  Mr.  Adams  could  explain  in 
self-defense  that  he  had  been  requested  by  de 
Vergennes  himself  to  convey  information  to 
that  gentleman  directly  from  time  to  time  on 
American  affairs ;  and  the  explanation  might 


SECOND  FOREIGN  MISSION.  181 

serve  as  an-  excuse  for,  if  not  a  full  justification 
of,  his  encroachment  on  the  proper  functions  of 
Dr.  Franklin.  But  a  public  man  is  unfortu 
nately  situated  when  he  is  so  placed  that  he  is 
obliged  to  explain.  It  seemed  in  derogation  of 
Mr.  Adams's  usefulness  abroad  that,  whether 
with  or  without  fault  on  his  own  part,  he  had 
incurred  the  displeasure  of  de  Vergennes  and 
the  jealousy  of  Franklin.  Congress  indeed 
stood  manfully  by  him ;  yet  it  was  impossible 
that  his  prestige  should  not  be  rather  weakened 
than  strengthened  by  what  had  occurred.  Al 
together,  his  ill-considered  readiness  had  done 
him  a  serious  temporary  hurt  on  this  occasion, 
as  on  so  many  others,  in  his  outspoken,  not  to 
say  loquacious  career. 

The  ill  feeling  between  Adams  and  Franklin 
reached  a  point  which  it  is  painful  now  to  con 
template,  as  existing  between  two  men  who 
should  have  been  such  hearty  co-laborers  in  the 
common  cause.  That  they  did  not  openly  quar 
rel  was  probably  due  only  to  their  sense  of  pro 
priety  and  dignity,  and  to  the  age  and  position 
of  Dr.  Franklin.  In  fact  they  were  utterly  in 
compatible,  both  mentally  and  morally  ;  from 
finding  that  they  could  not  work  in  unison  the 
step  to  extreme  personal  dislike  was  not  a  long 
one.  In  1811  Mr.  Adams  put  his  sentiments 
not  only  in  writing  but  in  print  with  his  usual 


182  JOHN  ADAMS. 

straightforward  and  unsparing  directness.  He 
'charged  that  Franklin  had  "  concerted  "  with 
de  Vergennes  "  to  crash  Mr.  Adanis  and  get 
possession  of  his  commission  for  peace ; "  and 
lie  stigmatized  the  conspiracy,  not  unjustly,  if 
his  suspicions  were  correct,  as  a  "  vulgar  and 
low  intrigue,"  a  "  base  trick."  He  said  that 
when  de  Vergennes  wished  to  send  complaints 
of  him  to  Congress,  Franklin,  who  was  not  offi 
cially  bound  to  interfere  in  the  business,  became 
a  "  willing  auxiliary  ...  at  the  expense  of  his 
duty  and  his  character."  He  said  that  he  had 
never  believed  Dr.  Franklin's  expressions  of 
44  reluctance,"  and  that  the  majority  of  Con 
gress  had  "always  seen  that  it  was  Dr.  F.'s 
heart's  desire  to  avail  himself  of  these  means 
and  this  opportunity  to  strike  Mr.  Adams  out  of 
existence  as  a  public  minister,  and  get  himself 
into  his  place."  He  denied  that  he  ever  inter 
meddled  in  Franklin's  province,  and  explained 
his  neglect  to  consult  with  the  doctor  on  the 
ground  that  he  knew  the  "  extreme  indolence 
and  dissipation "  of  that  great  man.  He  did 
not  confine  himself  to  accusing  Franklin  of  an 
ungenerous  enmity  to  himself,  but  directly  as 
sailed  his  morals  and  the  purity  of  his  patriot 
ism.  These  bitter  pages  are  not  pleasant  read 
ing,  however  much  truth  there  may  be  in  them. 
In  such  a  misunderstanding,  as  in  a  family 


SECOND  FOREIGN  MISSION.  183 

quarrel,  it  would  have  been  better  had  each 
party  rigorously  held  his  peace.  Yet  since  this 
was  not  done,  and  the  feud  has  been  published 
to  the  world,  it  may  be  fairly  said  that,  except 
in  points  of  discretion  at  the  time,  and  good 
taste  afterward,  it  is  difficult  not  to  sympathize 
with  Mr.  Adams.  He  had  nine  tenths  of  the 
substance  of  right  on  his  side. 

For  a  while  just  now  Mr.  Adams  resembles 
a  ship  blundering  through  a  fog  bank.  Appar 
ently  he  had  taken  leave  of  all  discretion.  In 
credible  as  it  seems,  he  actually  seized  this  mo 
ment  of  Count  de  Vergennes's  extreme  irri 
tation,  an  irritation  of  which  he  himself  had 
been  made  the  unfortunate  scape-goat,  to  write 
to  that  minister  a  letter  urging  a  vigorous  and 
expensive  naval  enterprise  by  the  French  in 
American  waters,  and  suggesting  that  besides 
its  strictly  strategic  advantages  it  would  have 
the  very  great  moral  use  of  proving  the  sincer 
ity  of  the  French  in  the  alliance !  Not  that 
he  himself,  as  he  graciously  said,  doubted  that 
sincerity,  but  others  were  questioning  it. 
Nothing  could  have  been  more  inopportune  or 
more  unconciliatory  than  this  proposal,  made 
at  the  precise  moment  when  conciliation  would 
have  been  the  chief  point  of  a  sound  policy. 
The  French  treasury  was  beginning  to  feel  se 
verely  the  cost  of  the  war,  and  however  hn- 


184  JOHN  ADAMS. 

perfect  may  have  been  the  sincerity  of  the  gov 
ernment  at  other  times  and  in  other  respects, 
they  were  now  at  least  doing  all  they  could 
afford  to  do  in  the  way  of  substantial  military 
assistance.  De  Vergennes  replied  with  chill 
ing  civility.  A  few  days  afterward  Mr.  Adams 
touched  another  sensitive  spot,  renewing  his 
old  suggestion  that  it  would  be  well  for  him  to 
communicate  to  the  British  court  the  full  char 
acter  of  his  commissions.  In  this  he  was  prob 
ably  quite  right  ;  but  in  urging  it  upon  the 
minister  just  at  this  moment  he  was  again  im 
prudent,  if  not  actually  wrong.  He  knew  per 
fectly  well  that  de  Vergennes  did  not  wish  this 
communication  to  be  made  ;  it  is  true  also  that 
he  more  than  half  suspected  the  concealed  mo 
tives  of  the  minister's  reluctance,  though  he 
did  not  fully  know  precisely  in  what  shape  the 
ministerial  policy  was  being  developed.  Still, 
being  aware  of  the  unwelcome  character  of  his 
proposal,  he  ought  to  have  refrained  from  urg 
ing  it  for  a  little  while,  until  the  offense  which 
he  had  so  lately  given  could  drop  a  little  fur 
ther  into  the  past.  In  those  days  of  tardy  com 
munication  diplomatic  matters  moved  so  slowly 
that  a  month  more  or  less  would  not  have 
counted  for  very  much,  and  certainly  he  would 
have  been  likely  to  lose  less  by  pausing  than 
he  could  hope  to  gain  by  pushing  forward  just 


SECOND  FOREIGN  MISSION.  185 

at  this  moment.  Upon  the  receipt  of  the  re 
iterated  and  unwelcome  request,  the  patience 
and  politeness  of  de  Vergennes  at  last  fairly 
broke  down.  His  response  was  curt,  and  in 
substance,  though  not  in  language,  almost  inso 
lent.  He  sent  Mr.  Adams  a  paper  setting  forth 
categorically  his  reasons  for  thinking  that  the 
time  had  not  come  for  informing  the  English 
government  concerning  the  Congressional  com 
missions.  He  hoped  that  Mr.  Adams  would 
see  the  force  of  these  arguments,  but  other 
wise,  he  said,  "  I  pray  you,  and  in  the  name  of 
the  king  request  you,  to  communicate  your  let 
ter  and  my  answer  to  the  United  States,  and 
to  suspend,  until  you  shall  receive  orders  from 
them,  all  measures  with  regard  to  the  English 
ministry."  For  his  own  part,  he  acknowledged 
that  he  intended  with  all  expedition  to  appeal 
to  Congress  to  check  the  intended  communica 
tion.  This  was  not  pleasant ;  but  the  reading 
of  the  enclosed  statement  of  reasons  must  have 
been  still  less  so.  They  were,  said  the  writer, 
"  so  plain  that  they  must  appear  at  first  view." 
After  this  doubtful  compliment  to  the  sagacity 
of  Mr.  Adams,  who  had  failed  to  discern  con 
siderations  so  remarkably  obvious,  a  number 
of  snubs  followed.  Mr.  Adams  was  told  that 
"  it  required  no  effort  of  genius  "  to  compre 
hend  that  he  could  not  fulfill  all  his  commis- 


186  JOHN  ADAMS. 

sions  at  once  ;  that  the  English  ministry  would 
regard  his  communication,  so  far  as  related  to 
the  treaty  of  commerce,  as  "  ridiculous,"  and 
would  return  either  "  no  answer  "  or  "  an  in 
solent  one  ; "  that  Mr.  Adams's  purpose  could 
never  be  achieved  by  the  means  he  suggested, 
with  the  too  plain  innuendo  that  his  sugges 
tion  was  a  foolish  one.  Finally,  but  not  until 
the  eighth  paragraph  had  been  reached  in  the 
discussion  and  disposition  of  Mr.  Adams's 
several  points,  the  Frenchman  said,  as  if  re 
lieved  at  last  to  find  a  break  in  the  chain  of  ig 
norance  and  folly :  "  This  is  a  sensible  reflec 
tion."  There  was  a  sharper  satire  in  this  praise 
than  in  the  blame  which  had  preceded  it ;  and 
the  subtle  minister  then  continued  to  show  that 
the  "  reflection  "  was  "  sensible  "  only  because 
it  showed  that  even  Mr.  Adams  himself  could 
appreciate  and  admit  that  under  some  circum 
stances  he  would  do  well  to  withhold  the  com 
munication  of  his  powers. 

As  a  real  confutation  of  Mr.  Adams's  argu 
ments,  this  document  was  very  imperfectly  sat 
isfactory.  As  a  manifestation  of  ill-temper  it 
was  more  efficient ;  for  it  was  cutting  and  sar 
castic  enough  to  have  irritated  a  man  of  a 
milder  disposition  than  Mr.  Adams  enjoyed. 
On  July  26,  however,  he  replied  to  it  in  tolera 
bly  submissive  form,  though  not  concealing  that 


SECOND  FOREIGN  MISSION.  187 

he  was  rather  silenced  by  the  authority  than 
convinced  by  the  arguments  of  his  opponent, 
since  an  opponent  de  Vergennes  had  by  this 
time  substantially  become.  But  on  July  27, 
Mr.  Adams  was  moved  to  write  a  second  and  a 
less  wise  letter.  He  had  overlooked,  he  said, 
the  count's  statement  that  in  the  beginning  the 
French  "  king,  without  having  been  solicited 
by  the  Congress,  had  taken  measures  the  most 
efficacious  to  sustain  the  American  cause."  He 
sought  now  to  prove,  and  did  prove,  that  this 
was  an  erroneous  assertion,  inasmuch  as  the 
colonists  had  solicited  aid  before  it  had  been 
tendered  to  them.  He  would  have  done  better 
had  he  continued  to  overlook  the  error,  rather 
than  be  so  zealous  to  prove  his  countrymen 
beggars  of  aid,  instead  of  recipients  of  it  un 
sought.  But  if  this  was  a  trifling  matter,  on  a 
following  page  he  committed  a  gross  and  un 
pardonable  folly.  "  I  am  so  convinced,"  he 
said,  "  by  experience  of  the  absolute  necessity 
of  more  consultations  and  communications  be 
tween  his  majesty's  ministers  and  the  minis 
ters  of  Congress,  that  I  am  determined  to  omit 
no  opportunity  of  communicating  my  senti 
ments  to  your  excellency,  upon  everything 
that  appears  to  me  of  importance  to  the  com 
mon  cause,  in  which  I  can  do  it  with  propri 
ety."  In  other  words,  Dr.  Franklin  was  so 


188  JOHN  ADAMS. 

outrageously  neglecting  his  duties  that  Mr. 
Adams  must  volunteer  to  perform  them  ;  and 
though  he  was  even  now  in  trouble  by  reason 
of  news  given  to  de  Yergennes  at  that  gentle 
man's  own  request,  he  actually  declares  his 
resolution,  untaught  by  experience,  to  thrust 
farther  unasked  communications  before  that 
minister.  Some  very  unfriendly  demon  must 
have  prompted  this  extraordinary  epistolary 
effort !  Two  days  afterward  he  received  from 
de  Vergennes  a  sharp  and  well-merited  rebuke. 
To  avoid  the  receipt  of  more  letters  like  Mr. 
Adams's  last,  the  minister  now  wrote :  "  I 
think  it  my  duty  to  inform  you  that,  Mr.  Frank 
lin  being  the  sole  person  who  has  letters  of  cre 
dence  to  the  king  from  the  United  States,  it 
is  with  him  only  that  I  ought  and  can  treat  of 
matters  which  concern  them,  and  particularly 
of  that  which  is  the  subject  of  your  observa 
tions."  Then  the  minister  mischievously  sent 
the  whole  correspondence  to  Dr.  Franklin,  ex 
pressing  the  malicious  hope  that  he  would  for 
ward  it  all  to  Congress,  so  "  that  they  may 
know  the  line  of  conduct  which  Mr.  Adams 
pursues  with  regard  to  us,  and  that  they  may 
judge  whether  he  is  endowed,  as  Congress  no 
doubt  desires,  with  that  conciliatory  spirit 
which  is  necessary  for  the  important  and  deli 
cate  business  with  which  he  is  entrusted."  In 


SECOND  FOREIGN  MISSION.  189 

a  word,  de  Vergennes  had  come  to  hate  Adams, 
and  wished  to  destroy  Mm.  Franklin  did  in 
fact  write  to  Congress  a  letter  in  a  tone  which 
could  not  have  been  unsatisfactory  to  Ver 
gennes,  and  the  result  came  back  in  the  shape 
of  some  mild  fault-finding  for  Mr.  Adams  in  an 
official  letter  from  the  President  of  Congress, 
a  censure  much  more  gentle  than  he  might 
well  have  anticipated  in  view  of  the  powerful 
influences  which  he  had  managed  to  set  in  mo 
tion  against  himself.  Fortunately,  too,  such 
sting  as  there  was  in  this  was  amply  cured  by 
a  vote  of  December  12,  1780,  passed  concern 
ing  the  correspondence  relating  to  the  redemp 
tion  of  debts,  by  which  Congress  instructed  the 
Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  "  to  inform  Mr. 
Adams  of  the  satisfaction  which  they  receive 
from  his  industrious  attention  to  the  interests 
and  honor  of  these  United  States  abroad,  es 
pecially  in  the  transactions  communicated  to 
them  by  his  letter." 

During  these  two  months  of  June  and  July, 
1780,  Mr.  Adams  had  certainly  succeeded  in 
stirring  up  a  very  considerable  embroilment, 
and  in  making  Paris  a  rather  uncomfortable 
place  of  residence  for  himself  for  the  time  be 
ing.  It  was  as  well  for  him  to  seek  some  new 
and  more  tranquil  pastures,  at  least  tempora 
rily.  Fortunately  he  was  able  to  do  so  with 


190  JOHN  ADAMS. 

a  good  grace.  So  early  as  in  February  preced 
ing  lie  had  seen  that  a  minister  in  Holland 
might  do  good  service,  especially  in  opelirhg 
the  way  for  loans  of  money.  He  had  lately 
been  contemplating  a  volunteer  and  tentative 
trip  thither,  and  had  asked  for  passports  from 
the  count  de  Vergennes;  these  he  now  re 
ceived,  with  an  intimation,  not  precisely  that 
his  absence  was  better  than  his  company,  but  at 
least  that  for  a  few  weeks  he  might  rest  assured 
that  no  negotiations  would  arise  to  demand  his 
attention.  So  on  July  27  he  set  out  for  Am 
sterdam.  This  visit,  intended  to  be  brief  and  of 
exploration  only,  finally  ran  on  through  a  full 
year,  and  covered  the  initiation  of  some  im 
portant  transactions.  Mr.  Adams's  chief  mo 
tive  was  to  try  the  financial  prospects,  to  see 
what  chance  there  was  for  the  colonies  to  delve 
into  the  treasure-chests  and  deep  pockets  of  the 
rich  bankers  and  money-lenders  of  the  Low 
Countries.  He  found  only  a  black  ignorance 
prevalent  concerning  the  condition  and  re 
sources  of  his  country,  and  that  it  was  of  no 
use  to  talk  of  loans  until  he  could  substitute  for 
this  lack  of  knowledge  abundant  and  favorable 
information.  To  this  end  he  at  once  bent  him 
self  by  industriously  employing  the  press,  and 
by  seeking  to  extend  his  personal  acquaintance 
and  influence  as  far  as  possible  in  useful  direc- 


SECOND  FOREIGN  MISSION.  191 

tions.  At  first  this  was  another  of  his  purely 
voluntary  undertakings,  from  which  he  had  not 
yet  been  turned  aside ;  but  while  he  was  prose 
cuting  it,  direct  authority  for  engaging  a  loan 
reached  him  from  Congress.  As  ill  luck  would 
have  it,  however,  just  at  this  same  crisis  the 
English  captured  some  papers  disagreeably 
compromising  the  relations  of  the  Dutch  with 
Great  Britain.  At  once  the  English  ministry 
became  very  menacing ;  the  Dutch  cowered  in 
alarm  ;  and  for  the  time  all  chance  of  borrow 
ing  money  disappeared.  "  Not  a  merchant  or 
banker  in  the  place,  of  any  influence,"  says 
Mr.  C.  F.  Adams,  "would  venture  at  such  a 
moment  even  to  appear  to  know  that  a  person 
suspected  of  being  an  American  agent  was  at 
hand."  But  after  a  while  the  cloud  showed 
symptoms  of  passing  over;  even  a  reaction 
against  the  spirit  of  timid  submission  to  Eng 
land  began  to  set  in.  Mr.  Adams  patiently 
stayed  by,  watching  the  turn  of  affairs,  and 
while  thus  engaged  received  from  Congress  two 
new  commissions.  The  one  authorized  him 
to  give  in  the  adhesion  of  the  United  States 
to  the  armed  neutrality;  the  other  appointed 
him  minister  plenipotentiary  to  the  United 
Provinces,  and  instructed  him  to  negotiate  a 
treaty  of  alliance  as  soon  as  possible.  Thus 
he  obtained  not  onlv  new  incentives  but  fresh 


192  JOHN  ADAMS. 

points  of  departure,  of  which  it  may  be  con 
ceived  that  he  was  not  slow  to  avail  himself. 
He  at  once  announced  to  the  ministers  of  vari 
ous  European  nations  at  the  Hague  his  power 
in  relation  to  the  armed  neutrality ;  and  soon 
afterward  presented  to  the  States  General  a 
memorial  requesting  to  be  recognized  as  min 
ister  from  the  United  States.  But  this  recog 
nition,  involving  of  course  the  recognition  of 
the  nation  also,  was  not  easily  to  be  obtained. 
Against  it  worked  the  fear  of  Great  Britain  and 
all  the  influence  of  that  court,  which,  though 
at  last  on  the  wane,  had  long  been  overshadow 
ing  in  Holland,  and  was  now  strenuously 
pushed  to  the  utmost  point  in  this  matter. 
Further,  the  influence  of  France  was  unques 
tionably,  though  covertly  and  indirectly,  ar 
rayed  upon  the  same  side.  No  more  conclusive 
evidence  could  have  been  desired  as  to  the  pre 
cise  limits  of  the  good  will  of  de  Vergennes  to 
the  American  states.  Had  he  had  their  inter 
ests  nearly  at  heart  he  would  have  had  every 
reason  to  advance  this  alliance ;  but  having  no 
other  interests  save  those  of  France  at  heart, 
he  pursued  the  contrary  course;  for  it  best 
suited  a  purely  French  policy  to  have  the  colo 
nies  feel  exclusively  dependent  upon  France, 
and  remain  otherwise  solitary,  unfriended,  un 
supported.  It  is  not  fair  to  blame  de  Ver- 


SECOND  FOREIGN  MISSION.  193 

gennes  for  this;  his  primary,  perhaps  his  sole 
duties  were  to  his  own  country.  But  the  fact 
undeniably  indicates  that  he  was  not  the  disin 
terested  friend  of  the  colonies  which  he  pro 
fessed  to  be,  and  that  he  could  not  wisely  be 
trusted  in  that  implicit  manner  in  which  he  de 
manded  to  be  trusted  by  them.  He  was  dis 
honest,  but  not  to  a  degree  or  in  a  way  which 
the  diplomatic  morality  of  that  day  severely  con 
demned.  He  only  pretended  to  be  influenced 
by  sentiments  which  he  did  not  really  feel,  and 
called  for  a  confidence  which  he  had  no  right 
to.  Mr.  Adams,  however,  could  not  fail  to  sus 
pect  him,  almost  to  understand  him,  and  to  be 
come  more  than  ever  persuaded  of  the  true 
relationship  of  the  French  government  to  the 
United  States.  He  wrote  to  Jonathan  Jackson, 
that  the  French  minister,  the  Duke  de  la  Vau- 
guyon,  doubtless  acting  upon  instructions  from 
de  Vergennes,  "  did  everything  in  his  power  " 
to  obstruct  the  negotiation ;  and  that  it  was 
only  upon  the  blunt  statement  made  to  him  by 
Mr.  Adams,  that  "  no  advice  of  his  or  of  the 
Comte  de  Vergennes,  nor  even  a  requisition 
from  the  king,  should  restrain  me,"  that  he  de 
sisted  from  his  perfidious  opposition,  and  "  fell 
in  with  me,  in  order  to  give  the  air  of  French 
influence  "  to  the  measures. 

Amid  these  labors  in  Holland  Mr.  Adams 

18 


194  JOHN  ADAMS. 

was  interrupted  by  a  summons  to  Paris.  There 
were  some  prospects  of  a  negotiation,  which, 
however,  speedily  vanished  and  permitted  him 
to  return.  Besides  his  own  endeavors,  events 
were  working  for  him  very  effectually.  For 
the  time  England  was  like  a  man  with  a  fight 
ing  mania ;  wildly  excited,  she  turned  a  bellig 
erent  front  to  any  nation  upon  the  slightest 
even  imaginary  provocation.  Utterly  reckless 
as  to  the  number  of  her  foes,  she  now  added 
Holland  to  the  array,  making  a  short  and  hasty 
stride  from  threats  to  a  declaration  of  war. 
Mr.  Adams  could  have  suggested  nothing 
better  for  his  own  purposes,  had  he  been  al 
lowed  to  dictate  British  policy.  Still  the  game 
was  not  won ;  things  moved  slowly  in  Holland, 
where  the  governmental  machine  was  of  very 
cumbrous  construction,  and  any  party  possessed 
immense  facilities  in  the  way  of  obstruction. 
The  stadtholder  and  his  allies,  conservatively 
minded,  and  heretofore  well-disposed  towards 
England,  still  remained  hostile  to  Mr.  Adams's 
projects ;  but  a  feeling  friendly  to  him  and  to 
the  colonies  had  rapidly  made  way  among  the 
merchants  and  popular  party  in  politics.  This 
was  attributable  in  part  to  indignation  against 
Great  Britain,  in  part  to  the  news  of  the  Ameri 
can  success  in  the  capture  of  Cornwallis's  army, 
and  in  part  to  Adams's  personal  exertions,  es- 


SECOND  FOREIGN  MISSION.  195 

pecially  in  disseminating  a  knowledge  concern 
ing  his  country,  and  sketching  probable  open 
ings  for  trade  and  financial  dealings.  At  last 
he  became  convinced  that  these  sentiments  of 
good  will  had  acquired  such  strength  and  exten 
sion  that  a  bold  measure  upon  his  part  would 
be  crowned  with  immediate  success. 

With  characteristic  audacity,  therefore,  he 
now  preferred  a  formal  demand  for  a  categori 
cal  answer  to  his  petition,  presented  several 
months  before,  asking  that  he  should  be  recog 
nized  by  the  States  General  as  the  minister  of 
an  independent  nation.  In  furtherance  of  this 
move  he  made  a  series  of  personal  visits  to  the 
representatives  of  the  several  cities.  It  was  a 
step,  if  not  altogether  unconventional,  yet  at 
least  requiring  no  small  amount  of  nerve  and  of 
willingness  for  personal  self-sacrifice  ;  since  had 
it  failed,  Adams  would  inevitably  and  perhaps 
properly  have  been  condemned  for  ill-judgment 
and  recklessness.  This,  coming  in  immediate 
corroboration  of  the  unfriendly  criticisms  of  de 
Vergennes  and  Franklin,  would  probably  have 
been  a  greater  burden  than  his  reputation  could 
have  sustained.  But  as  usual  his  courage  was 
ample.  The  deputies,  one  and  all,  replied  to 
him  that  they  had  as  yet  no  authority  to  act 
in  the  premises ;  but  they  would  apply  to  their 
constituents  for  instructions.  They  promptly 


196  JOHN  ADAMS. 

did  so,  and  the  condition  of  feeling  which  Mr. 
Adams  had  anticipated,  and  which  he  had  been 
largely  instrumental  in  producing,  was  mani 
fested  in  the  responses.  The  constituencies,  in 
rapid  succession,  declared  for  the  recognition, 
and  on  April  19,  1782,  a  year  after  the  pre 
sentation  of  the  first  memorial,  it  took  place. 
Mr.  Adams  was  then  formally  installed  at  the 
Hague  as  the  minister  of  the  new  people.  The 
French  minister,  the  Duke  de  la  Vauguyon, 
having  covertly  retarded  the  result  so  far  as  he 
well  could,  but  now  becoming  all  courtesy 
and  congratulation,  gave  a  grand  entertainment 
in  honor  of  the  achievement,  and  presented 
Mr.  Adams  to  the  ministers  of  the  European 
powers  as  the  latest  member  of  their  distin 
guished  body.  It  was  a  great  triumph  won 
over  grave  difficulties.  Mr.  C.  F.  Adams  says 
concerning  it :  "  This  may  be  justly  regarded, 
not  simply  as  the  third  moral  trial,  but  what 
Mr.  Adams  himself  always  regarded  it,  as  the 
greatest  success  of  his  life ;  "  and  this  is  hardly 
exaggeration.  Practical  advantages  immedi 
ately  followed.  The  Dutch  bankers  came  for 
ward  with  offers  to  lend  money,  and  some  sorely 
needed  and  very  helpful  loans  were  consum 
mated.  Further,  on  October  7,  Mr.  Adams 
had  the  pleasure  of  setting  his  hand  to  a  treaty 
of  amity  and  commerce,  the  second  which  was 


SECOND  FOREIGN  MISSION.  197 

ratified  with  his  country  as  a  free  nation.  Con 
cerning  this  Dutch  achievement  he  wrote  :  "No 
body  knows  that  I  do  anything ;  or  have  any 
thing  to  do.  One  thing,  thank  God !  is  certain. 
I  have  planted  the  American  standard  at  the 
Hague.  There  let  it  wave  and  fly  in  triumph 
over  Sir  Joseph  Yorke  and  British  pride.  I 
shall  look  down  upon  the  flagstaff  with  pleas 
ure  from  the  other  world."  The  Declaration 
of  Independence,  the  Massachusetts  Constitu 
tion,  the  French  alliance  had  not  given  him 
"  more  satisfaction  or  more  pleasing  prospects 
for  our  country"  than  this  "pledge  against 
friends  and  enemies,"  this  "barrier  against  all 
dangers  from  the  house  of  Bourbon,"  and 
"  present  security  against  England." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE   TREATY  OF   PEACE:   THE  ENGLISH 
MISSION. 

THE  Revolutionary  war  was  protracted  by 
the  English  in  a  manner  altogether  needless 
and  wicked.  Long  after  its  result  was  known 
by  every  one  to  be  inevitable,  that  result  was 
still  postponed  at  the  expense  of  blood,  suffer 
ing,  and  money,  for  no  better  motives  than  the 
selfish  pride  of  the  British  ministry  and  the 
dull  obstinacy  of  the  English  king.  Even  the 
rules  of  war  condemn  a  general  who  sacrifices 
life  to  prolong  a  battle  when  the  prolongation 
can  bring  no  possible  advantage ;  but  no  court- 
martial  had  jurisdiction  over  Lord  North,  and 
impeachment  has  never  been  used  to  punish 
mere  barbarity  on  the  part  of  a  cabinet  minis 
ter.  Mr.  Adams  appreciated  these  facts  at  the 
time  as  accurately  as  if  he  had  been  removed 
from  the  picture  by  the  distance  of  two  or 
three  generations.  It  caused  him  extreme  and 
perfectly  just  wrath  and  indignation.  Bitter 
explanations  of  the  truth  are  sprinkled  through 


THE  TREATY  OF  PEACE.        199 

his  letters,  official  and  personal,  from  the  time 
of  his  second  arrival  in  Europe.     The  hope  of 
coming  peace  had  a  dangerous  influence  in  re 
laxing  the  efforts  and  lowering  the  morale  of 
the  people  in  the  states.     He  steadily  endeav 
ored  to  counteract  this  mischief,  and  repeated 
to  them  with  emphasis,  often  passing  into  anger, 
his   conviction  that   the   end  was  not  near  at 
hand.     He  encouraged  them,  indeed,  with  oc 
casional  descriptions  of  the  condition  of  affairs 
in  England,  which  are  a  little  amusing  to  read 
now.     His  animosity  to  the  government  party 
was  intense,  and  many  of  his  anticipations  were 
the  offspring  of  his  wishes  rather  than  of  his 
judgment.     The  nation  seemed  to  him  on  the 
brink  of  civil  war,  and  to  be  saved  for  the  time 
from  that  disaster  solely  because  of  the  utter 
dearth   of    leaders   sufficiently  trustworthy  to 
gain  the  confidence  of  the  discontented  people. 
Thus,  he  declared,  "  it  may  truly  be  said,  that 
the  British  empire  is  crumbling  to  pieces  like 
a  rope  of  sand,"  so  that,  if  the  war  should  con 
tinue,  "  it  would  not  be  surprising  to  see  Scot-  " 
land  become  discontented  with  the  Union,  Asia 
cast  off  the  yoke  of  dependence,  and  even  the 
West  India  islands  divorce  themselves  and  seek 
the  protection  of  France,  of  Spain,  or  even  of 
the  United  States."      In  a  word,  throughout 
England  "  the  stubble  is  so  dry,  that  the  small- 


200  JOHN  ADAMS. 

est  spark  thrown  into  it  may  set  the  whole  field 
in  a  blaze."  "His  lordship  talks  about  the  mis 
ery  of  the  people  in  America.  Let  him  look  at 
home,  and  then  say  where  is  misery  !  where  the 
hideous  prospect  of  an  internal  civil  war  is 
added  to  a  war  with  all  the  world !  " 

But  all  this  did  not  blind  him  in  the  least  to 
the  dogged  resolve  of  king  and  cabinet  to 
fight  for  a  long  while  yet.  The  English,  he 
says,  "  have  ever  made  it  a  part  of  their  politi 
cal  system  to  hold  out  to  America  some  false 
hopes  of  reconciliation  and  peace,  in  order  to 
slacken  our  nerves  and  retard  our  preparations. 
.  .  .  But  serious  thoughts  of  peace  upon  any 
terms  that  we  can  agree  to,  I  am  persuaded 
they  never  had."  He  said  that  he  would  think 
himself  to  be  wanting  in  his  duty  to  his  coun 
trymen,  if  he  "  did  not  warn  them  against  any 
relaxation  of  their  exertions  by  sea  or  land, 
from  a  fond  expectation  of  peace.  They  will 
deceive  themselves  if  they  depend  upon  it. 
Never,  never  will  the  English  make  peace 
while  they  have  an  army  in  North  America." 
"  There  is  nothing  further  from  the  thoughts 
<of  the  king  of  England,  his  ministers,  parlia 
ment,  or  nation  (for  they  are  now  all  Azs),  than 
peace  upon  any  terms  that  America  can  agree 
to.  ...  I  think  I  see  very  clearly  that  Amer 
ica  must  grow  up  in  war.  It  is  a  painful  pros- 


THE   TREATY  OF  PEACE.  201 

pect,  to  be  sure."  But  he  goes  on  at  some 
length  to  show  that  it  must  and  can  be  encoun 
tered  successfully.  "  I  am  so  fully  convinced 
that  peace  is  a  great  way  off,"  he  again  reiter* 
ates,  "  and  that  we  have  more  cruelty  to  en- 
'counter  than  ever,  that  I  ought  to  be  explicit 
to  Congress."  Thus  earnestly  and  unceasingly 
did  he  endeavor  to  make  the  Americans  look 
the  worst  possibilities  of  the  future  fairly  in 
the  face,  appreciate  all  they  had  to  expect,  and 
escape  the  snare  of  too  sanguine  anticipation, 
with  its  fatal  consequence  of  languor  in  the 
prosecution  of  the  war.  France  and  Spain,  he 
said,  cannot  desert  the  states;  self-interest 
binds  the  trio  together  in  an  indissoluble  alli 
ance  for  the  purposes  of  this  struggle.  But  even 
should  those  nations  abandon  America,  should 
his  country  "  be  deserted  by  all  the  world,  she 
ought  seriously  to  maintain  her  resolution  to  be 
free.  She  has  the  means  within  herself.  '  Her 
greatest  misfortune  has  been  that  she  has  never 
yet  felt  her  full  strength,  nor  considered  the  ex 
tent  of  her  resources."  It  was  the  resolute 
temper  of  such  patriots  as  Mr.  Adams  that  was 
bringing  forward  the  end  more  rapidly  than 
the  prudent  ones  among  them  ventured  to  be 
lieve. 

If  the  postponement  of  that  end  was  wicked 
on  the  part  of  the   English  government,  their 


202  JOHN  ADAMS. 

ungracious  and  shambling  approaches  to  it  were 
contemptible  and  almost  ridiculous,  their  ma 
noeuvres  were  very  clumsy,  their  efforts  to 
save  appearances  in  abandoning  substantiate 
were  extremely  comical  and  pitiful.  There 
were  secret  embassies,  private  and  informal 
overtures  made  through  unknown  men,  propo 
sals  so  impossible  as  to  be  altogether  absurd, 
ludicrous  efforts  to  throw  dust  in  the  eyes  of 
French,  Spanish,  and  American  negotiators, 
endeavors  to  wean  the  allies  from  each  other, 
to  induce  France  to  desert  the  states,  even  to 
bribe  the  states  to  turn  about  and  join  England 
in  a  war  against  France.  There  was  nothing 
so  preposterous  or  so  hopeless  that  the  poor  old 
king  in  his  desperation,  and  the  king's  friends 
in  their  servility,  would  not  try  for  it,  nothing 
so  base  and  contemptible  that  they  would  not 
stoop  to  it,  and  seek  to  make  others  also  stoop. 
There  was  endless  shilly-shallying ;  there  was 
much  traveling  of  emissaries  under  assumed 
names;  infinite  skirmishing  about  the  central 
fact  of  American  independence.  It  was  no  fact, 
the  English  cabinet  said,  and  it  could  not  be  a 
fact  until  they  should  admit  it ;  for  the  present 
they  stoutly  alleged  that  it  was  only  a  foolish 
mirage ;  yet  all  the  while  they  knew  perfectly 
well  that  it  was  as  irrevocably  established  as  if 
an  American  minister  had  been  already  received 


THE  TREATY  OF  PEACE.        203 

by  George  III.  Though  they  might  criminally 
waste  a  little  time  in  such  nonsense,  all  the 
world  saw  that  they  could  not  hold  out  much 
longer. 

Amid  his  transactions  in  Holland  Mr.  Adams 
had  been  interrupted  by  a  summons  from  de 
Vergennes  to  come  at  once  to  Paris,  and  advise 
concerning  some  pending  suggestions.  It  was 
about  the  time  of  Mr.  Cumberland's  futile 
expedition  to  Madrid.  Immediately  after  the 
failure  of  this  originally  hopeless  attempt, 
Russia  and  Austria  endeavored  to  intervene, 
with  so  far  a  temporary  appearance  of  success 
that  some  articles  were  actually  proposed.  De 
Vergennes  had  intended  from  the  outset  to  be 
master  in  the  negotiations  whenever  they 
should  take  place,  and  to  this  end  he  had  con 
ceived  it  wise  to  prevent  either  Spain  or  the 
United  States  from  making  demands  inconven 
ient  to  him  or  incompatible  with  his  purely 
French  purposes.  Spain  he  must  manage  and 
cajole  as  best  he  could ;  but  the  states  he  ex 
pected  to  handle  more  cavalierly  and  imperi 
ously.  He  had  no  notion  of  letting  this  crude 
people,  this  embryotic  nationality,  impede  the 
motions  or  interfere  with  the  interests  of  the 
great  kingdom  of  France.  So  hitherto  he  had 
quietly  attended  to  all  the  preliminary  and  ten 
tative  business  which  had  been  going  forward, 


204  JOHN  ADAMS. 

without  communicating  anything  of  it  to  Mr. 
Adams.  Accordingly  now,  when  affairs  had 
come  to  a  point  at  which  that  gentleman  could 
no  longer  be  utterly  ignored,  he  suddenly  found 
himself  called  upon  to  speak  and  act  in  the 
middle  of  transactions  of  which  he  did  not  know 
the  earlier  stages.  It  was  much  as  if  a  player 
should  be  ordered  to  go  upon  the  stage  and  take 
a  chief  part  in  the  second  act  of  a  play,  of  which 
he  had  not  been  allowed  to  see  or  read  the  first 
act. 

On  July  6,  1781,  Mr.  Adams  appeared  in 
Paris  and  was  allowed  to  know  that  the  basis 
of  negotiation  covered  three  points  of  interest 
to  him :  1.  A  negotiation  for  peace  between  the 
states  and  Gre:at  Britain  without  any  interven 
tion  of  France,  or  of  those  mediators  who  were 
to  act  in  arranging  the  demands  of  the  Euro 
pean  belligerents.  2.  No  treaty,  however,  was 
to  be  signed,  until  the  quarrels  of  these  Euro 
pean  belligerents  should  also  have  been  success 
fully  composed.  3.  A  truce  was _  to  Jae. arranged 
for  one  or  two  years,  during  which -period 
everything  should  remain  in  statu  quo,  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  ample  time  for  negotiation. 
This  was  divulged  to  him,  but  he  was  not  told 
of  a  fourth  article,  though  not  less  interesting 
to  him  than  these.  This  was,  that  when  this 
basis  should  have  been  acceded  to  by  all  the 


THE  TREATY  OF  PEACE.  205 

parties,  the  mediation  should  go  forward.  The 
difficulty  in  this  apparently  simple  proposition, 
a  difficulty  sufficiently  great  to  induce  de  Yer* 
gennes  to  indulge  in  the  gross  ill  faith  of  con 
cealing  it,  lay  in  the  stipulation  concerning  "all 
the  parties."  Were  the  states  a  party  or  were 
they  not  ?  '  Were  they  a  nation,  independent 
like  the  rest,  or  were  they  colonies  in  a  condi 
tion  of  revolt  ?  If  they  constituted  a  "  party  " 
they  were  entitled  to  be  treated  like  the  other 
parties,  and  to  accede  to  and  share  in  the  me 
diation,  appearing  before  the  world  in  all  re 
spects  precisely  like  their  comrade  nations. 
To  this  it  was  foreseen  that  England  would 
object,  and  that  she  would  not  consent  thus  at 
once  to  set  herself  upon  terms  of  equality  with 
those  whom  she  still  regarded  as  rebellious  sub 
jects.  >  Also  the  states,  being  present  at  the 
mediation,  might  urge  in  their  own  behalf  mat 
ters  which  would  cause  new  snarls  in  a  busi 
ness  already  unduly  complicated,  whence  might 
arise  some  interference  with  the  clever  ways 
and  strictly  national  purpose  of  the  count. 
These  were  the  reasons  why  de  Vergennes  re 
frained  from  mentioning  this  fourth  point  to 
Mr.  Adams. 

But  if  that  astute  diplomatist  fancied  that 
the  concealment  of  this  article  would  carry  with 
it  the  concealment  of  the  vital  point  which  it 


206  JOHN  ADAMS. 

involved,  he  was  in  error.  Though  unversed  in 
intrigue,  Mr.  Adams  had  not  the  less  a  shrewd 
and  comprehensive  head,  and  from  the  first 
article  he  gathered  the  necessary  suggestion. 
Why  should  his  country  be  separated  from  the 
rest  and  bidden  to  treat  with  Great  Britain  in 
a  side  closet,  as  it  were,  apart  from  the  public 
room  in  which  the  European  dignitaries  were 
conducting  their  part  of  the  same  business  ? 
Proud,  independent,  and  long  ago  suspicious  of 
the  French  minister,  Mr.  Adams  not  only  at 
once  saw  this  question,  but  surmised  the  answer 
to  it.  Yet  since  his  belief  could  after  all  be 
nothing  more  than  a  surmise,  which  he  had  to 
grope  for  in  the  dark,  unaided  by  knowledge 
which  he  ought  to  have  received,  he  framed  a 
cautious  reply.  With  professions  of  modesty, 
he  said  that  it  seemed  to  him  that  an  obvious 
inference  from  the  isolation  of  the  states  was, 
that  their  independence  was  a  matter  to  be  set 
tled  between  thenselves  and  Great  Britain ; 
and  he  could  not  but  fear  that  before  the  me 
diators  some  other  power,  seeking  its  own  ends, 
might  come  to  such  an  understanding  with 
Great  Britain  as  would  jeopardize  American 
nationality.  Therefore  he  said  fairly  that  he 
did  not  like  the  plan.  The  point  was  put  by 
him  clearly  and  strenuously;  subsequently,  as 
will  be  seen,  it  proved  to  be  pregnant  with 


THE  TREATY   OF  PEACE.  207 

grave  difficulties.  But  for  the  moment  he  was 
saved  the  necessity  of  pushing  it  to  a  conclu 
sion  by  reason  of  the  failure  of  the  whole 
scheme  of  pacification.  Indeed,  he  was  de 
tained  in  Paris  but  a  very  short  time  on  this 
occasion,  and  quickly  returned  to  his  Dutch  ne 
gotiations.  He  had,  however,  corroborated  the 
notion  of  Count  de  Vergennes,  that  he  would 
be  an  uncomfortable  person  for  that  selfish  di 
plomatist  to  get  along  with  in  the  coining  dis 
cussions. 

Perfectly  convinced  of  this  incompatibility, 
de  Vergennes  was  using  all  his  arts  and  his  in 
fluence  with  Congress  to  relieve  himself  of  the 
anticipated  embarrassment.  His  envoy  to  the 
states  now  prosecuted  a  serious  crusade  against 
the  contumacious  New  Englander,  and  met 
with  a  success  which  cannot  be  narrated  with 
out  shame.  To-day  it  is  so  easy  to  see  how 
pertinaciously  the  French  cabinet  sought  to 
lower  the  tone  of  the  American  Congress,  that 
it  seems  surprising  that  so  many  members  could 
at  the  time  have  remained  blind  to  endeavors 
apparently  perfectly  obvious.  Even  so  far  back 
as  in  1799,  the  ultimata  being  then  under  dis-  ( 
cussion  in  Congress,  and  among  them  being  a 
distinct  recognition  by  Great  Britain  of  the 
independence  of  the  states,  M.  Ge'rard,  the 
French  minister  at  Philadelphia,  had  actually 


208  JOHN  ADAMS. 

suggested,  in  view  of  a  probable  refusal  by 
England  of  this  demand,  that  Geneva  and  the 
Swiss  Cantons  had  never  yet  obtained  any 
such  formal  acknowledgement,  and  still  en 
joyed  "•  their  sovereignty  and  independence 
only  under  the  guarantee  of  France  !  "  The 
suspicion  which  such  language  ought  to  have 
awakened  might  have  found  corroboration  in 
the  hostility  to  Mr.  Adams,  the  true  cause  of 
which  was  often  hinted  at.  Yet  so  far  were 
the  Americans  from  being  put  upon  their  guard 
by  the  conduct  of  de  Vergennes's  emissaries, 
and  so  far  were  they  from  appreciating  the  true 
meaning  of  this  dislike  to  Mr.  Adams,  that  they 
made  one  concession  after  another  before  the 
steady  and  subtle  pressure  applied  by  their 
dangerous  ally.  In  March,  1781,  de  la  Luzerne, 
M.  Gerard's  successor,  began  a  series  of  efforts 
to  bring  about  the  recall  of  Mr.  Adams.  In 
this  he  was  fortunately  unsuccessful ;  he  was 
going  too  far.  Yet  his  arts  and  persistence 
were  not  without  other  fruits.  In  July,  1781, 
he  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  revocation  of  the 
powers  which  had  been  given  to  Mr.  Adams  to 
negotiate  a  treaty  of  commerce  with  England 
so  soon  as  peace  should  be  established,  powers 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  were  so  obnoxious  to 
de  Vergennes  that  he  had  obstinately  insisted 
that  they  should  be  kept  a  close  secret.  Fur- 


THE    TREATY  OF  PEACE. 

ther,  though  Congress  persisted  in  retainM 
Mr.  Adams,  they  were  induced  to  join  with 
him  four  coadjutors,  the  five  to  act  as  a  joint 
commission  in  treating  for  peace.  These  four 
were  Dr.  Franklin,  minister  to  France,  John 
Jay,  minister  at  Madrid,  Laurens,  then  a  pris 
oner  in  the  Tower  of  London,  and  who  was  re 
leased  in  exchange  for  Lord  Cornwallis  just  in 
time  to  be  present  at  the  closing  of  the  nego 
tiation,  and  Jefferson,  who  did  not  succeed  in 
getting  away  from  the  United  States. 

There  was  no  objection  to  this  arrangement^ 
considered  in  itself,  and  without  regard  to  the 
influence  by  which  it  had  been  brought  about. 
Indeed,  in  view  of  Adams's  relations  with  the 
French  court,  it  was  perhaps  an  act  of  pru 
dence.  It  might  possibly  be  construed  as  a 
slur  on  him  ;  but  it  had  not  necessarily  that  as 
pect,  and  he  himself  received  it  in  a  very  manly 
and  generous  spirit,  refusing  to  see  in  it  "  any 
trial  at  all  of  spirit  and  fortitude,"  but  prefer 
ring  to  regard  it  as  "  a  comfort."  "  The  meas 
ure  is  right,"  he  wrote  ;  "  it  is  more  respect 
ful  to  the  powers  of  Europe  concerned,  and 
more  likely  to  give  satisfaction  in  America." 
Unfortunately,  however,  worse  remained  be 
hind.  Not  content  with  removing  all  ultimata 
except  the  fundamental  one  of  the  recognition 
of  American  independence  —  a  recession,  of 

14 


210  JOHN  ADAMS. 

which  the  foolish  and  gratuitous  pusillanimity 
was  made  painfully  apparent  by  the  subse 
quent  progress  and  result  of  the  negotiations  — 
Congress  now  actually  transmuted  its  five  in 
dependent  representatives,  the  commissioners, 
into  mere  puppets  of  M.  de  Vergennes.  That 
effete  body,  at  the  express  request  and  almost 
accepting  the  very  verbal  dictation  of  de  la 
Luzerne,  now  instructed  their  peace  commis 
sioners  u  to  make  the  most  candid  and  confi 
dential  communications  upon  all  subjects  to 
the  ministers  of  our  generous  ally,  the  King  of 
France ;  to  undertake  nothing  in  the  negotia 
tions  for  peace  or  truce  without  their  knowl 
edge  or  concurrence,"  and  "  ultimately  to  gov 
ern  themselves  by  their  advice  and  opinion." 
At  last  bottom  was  indeed  reached  ;  no  lower 
depth  of  humiliation  existed  below  this,  where 
the  shrewd  and  resolute  diplomacy  of  de  Ver 
gennes  had  succeeded  in  placing  the  dear  allies 
of  his  country,  the  proteges,  now  properly  so 
called,  of  the  kind  French  monarch. 

The  American  commissioners  abroad  took 
these  instructions  in  different  and  characteristic 
ways.  Dr.  Franklin  received  them  in  his  usual 
bland  and  easy  fashion  ;  he  was  on  the  best 
of  terms  with  de  Vergennes;  he  certainly  had 
not  pride  among  his  failings,  and  he  gave  no 
sign  of  displeasure.  Mr.  Adams's  hot  and 


THE    TREATY   OF  PEACE.  211 

proud  temper  blazed  up  amid  his  absorbing  oc 
cupations  in  Holland,  and  he  was  for  a  moment 
impelled  to  throw  up  his  position  at  once  ;  but 
he  soon  fell  back  beneath  the  control  of  his 
better  reason,  his  patriotism,  and  that  admira 
ble  independent  self-confidence,  his  peculiar 
trait,  which  led  him  so  often  to  undertake  and 
accomplish  very  difficult  tasks  on  his  own  re 
sponsibility.  He  wisely  and  honorably  con 
cluded  to  stand  by  his  post  and  do  his  best  for 
his  country,  without  too  much  respect  for  her 
demands.  Mr.  Jay  was  hurt,  and  felt  himself 
subjected  to  an  unworthy  indignity,  altogether 
against  his  nice  sense  of  right.  He  had  already 
seen  that  France  was  covertly  leagued  with 
Spain  to  prevent  the  granting  of  the  American 
request  for  the  privilege  of  navigating  the  Mis 
sissippi  through  Spanish  territory.  He  under 
stood  the  dangerous  character  of  the  new  Amer 
ican  position,  and  saw  that  he  was  so  hampered 
that  he  could  not  do  his  countrymen  justice. 
He  would  play  no  part  in  such  a  game ;  and 
wrote  home,  not  resigning,  but  requesting  that  a 
successor  might  be  appointed.  Events,  however, 
marched  at  last  with  such  speed  that  this  re 
quest  never  was,  or  well  could  be  granted. 

At  last  peace  was  really  at  hand.  The  un 
mistakable  harbingers  were  to  be  seen  in 
every  quarter.  The  French  cabinet,  having 


212  JOHN  ADAMS. 

gained  a  controlling  influence  over  the  Ameri 
can  negotiation,  now  thought  it  time  to  under 
take  the  further  task  of  bringing  these  confid 
ing  friends  into  a  yielding  and  convenient 
mood,  forewarning  them  that  they  must  not 
expect  much.  They  were  told  that  the  French 
king  took  their  submission  graciously  and  would 
do  his  best  for  them,  of  course  ;  but  if  he  should 
"  not  obtain  for  every  state  all  they  wished, 
they  must  attribute  the  sacrifice  he  might  be 
compelled  to  make  of  his  inclinations  to  the 
tyrannic  rule  of  necessity."  Then  came  refer 
ences  to  "  the  other  powers  at  war,"  reminding 
one  of  the  way  in  which  Mr.  Spenlow  kept  Mr. 
Jorkins  darkly  suspended  over  David  Copper- 
field's  head ;  nor,  indeed,  could  one  deny,  as  an 
abstract  proposition,  that,  "  if  France  should 
continue  hostilities  merely  on  account  of  Amer 
ica,  after  reasonable  terms  were  offered,  it  was 
impossible  to  say  what  the  event  might  be." 
The  true  meaning  of  such  paragraphs  had  to 
be  sought  between  the  lines.  The  American 
negotiators  had  peculiar  perils  before  them, 
and  more  to  dread  from  their  allies  than  from 
their  foes. 

England  meanwhile  was  also  in  her  bungling 
fashion  really  getting  ready  for  peace.  With 
grimaces  and  writhings,  indicating  her  reluc 
tance,  her  suffering,  and  her  humiliation,  and 


THE   TREATY  OF  PEACE.  213 

so  not  altogether  ungrateful  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Americans,  who  were  in  some  measure  com 
pensated  for  her  backwardness  by  beholding 
its  cause,  the  mother-country  at  last  prepared 
to  let  the  colonies  go.  The  year  1782  opened 
with  the  ministry  of  Lord  North  tottering  to 
its  fall.  General  Conway  moved  an  address 
to  the  king,  praying  for  peace.  The  majority 
against  this  motion  was  of  one  vote  only.  Lord 
North  resigned  ;  the  whigs,  under  the  Marquis 
of  Rockingham,  came  in.  Even  while  the  cab 
inet  was  in  a  transition  state,  the  first  serious 
move  was  made.  Mr.  Digges,  an  emissary 
without  official  character,  was  dispatched  to 
ask  whether  the  American  commissioner  had 
power  to  conclude  as  well  as  to  negotiate.  His 
errand  was  to  Mr.  Adams,  and  Mr.  C.  F. 
Adams  conceives  that  his  real  object  was  to 
discover  whether  the  Americans  would  not 
make  a  separate  peace  or  truce  without  regard 
to  France.  Nothing  came  of  this.  But  when 
the  new  ministry  was  fairly  installed,  with 
Fox  at  the  head  of  the  department  of  foreign 
affairs  and  Lord  Shelburne  in  charge  of  the 
colonies,  Dr.  Franklin  wrote  privately  to  Shel 
burne,  expressing  a  hope  that  a  peace  might 
now  be  arranged.  In  reply  Shelburne  sent  Mr. 
Richard  Oswald,  "a  pacifical  man,"  to  Paris 
to  sound  the  doctor.  But  Oswald,  though 


214  JOHN  ADAMS. 

coming  from  the  colonial  department,  was  so 
thoughtless  as  to  talk  with  de  Vergennes  con 
cerning  a  general  negotiation.  Fox,  finding 
his  province  thus  invaded,  sent  over  his  own 
agent,  Thomas  Grenville,  to  de  Vergennes.  A 
graver  question  than  one  of  etiquette,  or  even 
of  official  jealousy,  underlay  this  misunder 
standing,  the  question  whether  the  states  were 
to  be  treated  with  as  colonies  or  as  an  inde 
pendent  power,  the  same  about  which  Adams 
had  already  expressed  his  views  to  de  Ver 
gennes.  Fox  and  Shelburne  quarreled  over  it 
in  the  first  instance  in  the  cabinet.  Fox  was 
out-voted,  and  announced  that  he  would  retire 
with  his  followers.  At  the  same  critical  mo 
ment  Lord  Rockingham  died  ;  and  then  Fox 
and  Shelburne  further  disputed  as  to  who 
should  fill  his  place.  Shelburne  carried  the 
day,  unfortunately,  as  it  seemed,  for  the  peace 
party.  For  Shelburne  was  resolved  to  regard 
the  states  as  still  colonies,  who  might  indeed 
acquire  independence  by  and  through  the 
treaty,  but  who  did  not  yet  possess  that  dis 
tinction.  (He  at  once  recalled  Grenville  and 
gave  Mr.  Oswald  a  commission  to  treat.  But 
this  commission  was  carefully  so  worded  as 
not  to  recognize,  even  by  implication,  the  in 
dependence  or  the  nationality  of  the  states. 
It  authorized  Oswald  only  to  treat  with  "  any 


THE  TREATY  OF  PEACE.  215 

commissioner  or  commissioners,  named  or  to 
be  named  by  the  thirteen  colonies  or  planta 
tions  in  North  America,  and  any  body  or  bod 
ies,  corporate  or  politic,  or  any  assembly  or  as 
semblies,  or  description  of  men,  or  any  person 
or  persons  whatsoever,  a  peace  or  truce  with 
the  said  colonies  or  plantations,  or  any  part 
thereof."  In  such  a  petty  temper  did  the  no 
ble  lord  approach  this  negotiation,  and  by  this 
silly  and  unusual  farrago  of  words  endeavor  to 
save  a  dignity  which,  wounded  by  facts,  could 
hardly  be  plastered  over  by  phrases. 

But  if  for  the  English  this  was  mere  matter 
of  pride  in  a  point  of  detail,  it  wore  a  different 
aspect  to  an  American.  Mr.  Jay  had  no  notion 
of  accepting  for  his  country  the  character  of 
revolted  colonies,  whose  independence  was  to 
be  granted  by  an  article  in  a  treaty  with  Great 
Britain,  and  was  therefore  contingent  for  the 
present,  and  non-existent  until  the  grant  should 
take  place.  Suppose,  indeed,  that  after  such  an 
admission  the  treaty  should  never  be  consum 
mated  ;  in  what  a  position  would  the  states  be 
left !  They  were,  and  long  had  been  and  had 
asserted  themselves  to  be,  a  free  nation,  hav 
ing  a  government  which  had  sent  and  received 
foreign  ministers.  This  character  was  to  be  ac 
knowledged  on  all  sides  at  the  outset,  and  they 
would  transact  business  on  no  other  basis.  In- 


216  JOHN  ADAMS. 

dependence  and  nationality  could  not  come  to 
them  as  a  concession  or  gift  from  Great  Britain, 
having  been  long  since  taken  and  held  by  their 
own  strength  in  her  despite.  Assurances  were 
offered  that  the  independence  should  of  course 
be  recognized  by  an  article  of  the  treaty  ;  but 
neither  would  this  do.  In  this  position  Jay 
found  no  support  where  he  had  a  right  to  ex 
pect  it.  Dr.  Franklin,  with  more  of  worldly 
wisdom  than  of  sensitive  spirit,  took  little  in 
terest  in  this  point ;  declaring  that,  provided 
independence  became  an  admitted  fact,  he  cared 
not  for  the  manner  of  its  becoming  so.  De 
Vergennes  said  that  the  commission  was  am 
ply  sufficient ;  and  even  covertly  intimated  this 
opinion  to  the  British  ministry.  But  from  Mr. 
Adams  in  Holland  Mr.  Jay  received  encourag 
ing  letters,  thoroughly  corroborating  his  opin 
ions  and  sustaining  him  fully  and  cheerfully. 
Only  Mr.  Adams  suggested  that  a  commission 
to  treat  with  the  United  States  of  America,  in 
the  same  form  in  which  such  documents  ran  as 
towards  any  other  country,  would  seem  to  him 
satisfactory.  A formal  ""statement  from  the 
British  could  be  waived.  The  admission  might 
come  more  easily  than  an  explicit  declaration. 
This  suggestion  gave  Lord  Shelburne  a  chance 
to  recede,  of  which  he  availed  himself.  Mr. 
Oswald  was  authorized  to  treat  with  the  com- 


THE  TREATY  OF  PEACE.        217 

missioners  of  the  United  States  of  America; 
and  the  point  was  at  last  reached  at  which  the 
task  of  negotiation  could  be  fairly  entered  upon. 
The  Americans  at  once  put  forward  their 
claims  in  brief  and  simple  fashion ;  these  in 
volved  questions  of  boundary,  the  navigation 
of  the  Mississippi,  so  far  as  England  could  deal 
with  it,  and  the  enjoyment  of  the  northeastern 
fisheries.  The  English  court  began,  of  course, 
by  refusal  and  objection,  and  de  Vergennes  was 
really  upon  their  side  in  the  controversy.  The 
territory  demanded  by  the  United  States  seemed 
to  him  unreasonably  extensive  ;  the  navigation 
of  the  Mississippi  nearly  concerned  Spain,  who 
did  not  wish  the  states  to  establish  any  claim, 
to  it ;  and  he  was  anxious  for  his  own  purposes 
to  do  Spain  a  good  turn  in  this  particular  ; 
while  as  for  the  fisheries,  he  intended  that  they 
should  be  shared  between  England  and  France. 
Further  than  this,  the  English  demanded  that 
the  states  should  reimburse  all  tories  and  loy 
alists  in  America  for  their  losses  in  the  war  ; 
and  de  Vergennes  said  that  this  requirement, 
which  the  American  commissioners  scouted, 
was  no  more  than  a  proper  concession  to  Eng 
land.  Matters  standing  thus,  Franklin  and 
Jay  had  to  fight  their  diplomatic  battle  as  best 
they  could,  certainly  without  that  valuable  aid 
and  potent,  generous  assistance  from  the  French 


218  JOHN  ADAMS. 

court  of  which  Congress  had  been  so  sanguine. 
Fortunately  Mr.  Oswald,  the  "  pacifical  man," 
was  heartily  anxious  to  bring  about  a  success 
ful  conclusion.  But  he  had  not  full  powers  to 
grant  all  that  the  Americans  desired,  and  in 
his  frequent  communications  to  the  cabinet  his 
good-nature  became  so  apparent  that  it  was 
deemed  best  to  dispatch  a 'coadjutor  of  a  dif 
ferent  temper.  Accordingly  Mr.  Strachey  ap 
peared  in  Paris  as  the  exponent  of  English  ar 
rogance,  insolence,  and  general  offensiveness. 

This  new  move  boded  ill ;  but  as  good  luck 
would  have  it,  just  at  this  juncture  Mr.  Jay 
also  received  a  no  less  effective  reinforcement. 
Mr.  Adams,  having  got  through  with  his  busi 
ness  in  J5olland,  arrived  in  Paris  on  October 
26.  He  at  once  had  a  long  interview  with  Mr. 
Jay,  received  full  information  of  all  that  had 
passed,  and  declared  himself  in  perfect  accord 
with  all  the  positions  assumed  by  that  gentle 
man.  The-two  fell  immediately  into  entire  har 
mony,  and  with  the  happiest  results.  For  a  vi 
tal  question  was  impending.  Matters  had  just 
reached  the  stage  at  which  the  final  terms  of  the 
treaty  were  to  be  discussed  with  a  view  to  an 
actual  conclusion.  The  instructions  of  the  com 
missioners,  it  will  be  remembered,  compelled 
them  to  keep  in  close  and  candid  communica 
tion  with  de  Vergennes,  and  to  be  guided  and 


THE  TREATY  OF  PEACE.  219 

governed  by  his  good  counsel.  Yet  two  of  the 
three  commissioners  present  thoroughly  dis 
trusted  him,1  and  were  assured  that  obedience 
to  these  instructions  would  cost  their  country  a 
very  high  price.  Should  they,  then,  disobey  ? 
Franklin  had  said,_  no.  Jay  had__saidj  j;es. 
Adams,  now^coming  into  the  business,  promptly 
gaveTffie  casting  vote  on  Jay's  side.  There 
upon  Franklin  yielded.  It  was  a  bold  step.  An 
immense  responsibility  was  assumed ;  a  great 
risk,  at  once  national  and  personal,  was  ven 
tured.  Men  have  been  impeached  and  con 
demned  upon  less  weighty  matters  and  more 
venial  charges.  But  the  commissioners  had  the 
moral  courage  which  is  so  often  born  out  of  the 
grandeur  of  momentous  events.  Henceforth 
they  went  on  in  the  negotiation  without  once 
asking  advice  or  countenance  from  de  Ver- 
gennes  ;  without  even  officially  informing  him 

1  About  this  time  Mr.  Adams  gave  to  Jonathan  Jackson 
this  true  and  pungent  summary  of  the  French  policy  :  "  In 
substance  it  has  been  this  :  in  assistance  afforded  us  in  naval 
force  and  in  money  to  keep  us  from  succumbing,  and  nothing 
more  ;  to  prevent  us  from  ridding  ourselves  wholly  of  our 
enemies  ;  to  prevent  us  from  growing  powerful  or  rich ;  to 
prevent  us  from  obtaining  acknowledgments  of  our  independ 
ence  by  other  foreign  powers,  and  to  prevent  us  from  obtain 
ing  consideration  in  Europe,  or  any  advantage  in  the  peace 
but  what  is  expressly  stipulated  in  the  treaty  ;  to  deprive  us 
of  the  grand  fishery,  the  Mississippi  river,  the  western  lands, 
and  to  saddle  us  with  the  tories." 


220  JOHN  ADAMS. 

of  their  progress,  though  Mr.  Adams  gave  him 
private  news  very  regularly.  If  he  offered 
them  no  aid  under  the  circumstances,  he  can 
hardly  be  blamed ;  but  such  few  criticisms  or 
hints  as  he  did  throw  out  were  by  no  means 
upon  their  side  in  the  discussions. 

Considering  that  the  recognition  of  independ 
ence  was  the  only  ultimatum  which  the  Amer 
icans  were  ordered  to  insist  upon,  they  certainly 
made  a  wonderfully  good  bargain.  They  did 
very  well  in  the  way  of  boundaries  ;  they  got  all 
that  the  English  could  grant  concerning  navi 
gation  of  the  Mississippi ;  the  English  claim 
to  compensation  for  loyalists  they  cut  down  to 
a  stipulation,  which  they  frankly  said  would 
be  of  no  value,  that  Congress  should  use  its  in 
fluence  with  the  states  to  prevent  any  legal  im 
pediment  being  placed  in  the  way  of  the  col 
lection  of  debts.  This  was  the  suggestion  of 
Mr.  Adams.  But  the  question  of  the  fisheries 
caused  their  chief  difficulty;  it  seemed  as 
though  the  Americans  must  make  a  concession 
here,  or  else  break  off  the  negotiation  alto 
gether.  Mr.  Strachey  went  to  London  to  see 
precisely  what  the  cabinet  would  do,  but  at 
the  same  time  left  behind  him  the  distinct  in 
timation  that  he  had  no  idea  that  the  min 
istry  would  meet  the  American  demands. 
Mr.  Vaughan,  distrusting  the  influence  which 


THE  TREATY  OF  PEACE.  221 

Strachey  might  exert,  set  off  immediately 
after  him  in  order  to  counteract  his  contumacy. 
The  ministry  had,  hoAvever,  already  decided, 
and  directed  its  envoys  to  insist  to  the  last 
point,  but  ultimately  to  yield  rather  than  jeop 
ardize  the  pacification.  Thus  instructed,  they 
came  to  a  final  session.  The  question  of  the 
fisheries  came  up  at  once ;  the  Americans  ap 
peared  resolute,  and  for  a  while  matters  did  not 
promise  well ;  but  soon  the  Englishmen  began 
to  weaken ;  they  said  that  at  least  they  would 
like  to  substitute  the  word  "  liberty "  in  place 
of  the  less  agreeable  word  "  right."  But  Mr. 
Adams  thereupon  arose  and  with  much  warmth 
and  ardor  delivered  himself  of  an  eloquent  ex 
position  of  his  views.  A  "right"  it  was,  he 
said,  and  a  "  right "  it  should  be  called.  He 
even  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  the  conciliation 
hung  upon  the  point  which  he  urged.  The 
fervor  of  his  manner,  which  in  moments  of  ex 
citement  was  always  impressive,  lending  an  air 
of  earnest  and  intense  conviction  to  his  words, 
satisfied  the  Englishmen  that  they  must  avail 
themselves  of  all  the  latitude  of  concession 
which  had  been  allowed  to  them.  They 
yielded ;  and  a  bright."  in  the  fisheries  became 
and  has  ever  since  remained  a  part  of  the  na 
tional  property.  They  had  to  yield  once  more, 
as  has  been  stated,  on  the  question  of  compen- 


222  JOHN  ADAMS. 

sation  to  tories,  and  then  the  bargain  was  finally 
struck,  substantially  upon  the  American  basis. 
The  agreement  was  signed,  and  the  conclu 
sion  was  reported  to  de  Vergennes.  At  first 
he  took  the  announcement  tranquilly  enough ; 
he  had  been  pushing  forward  his  own  negotia 
tions  with  England  for  some  time  very  smoothly, 
and  had  been  satisfied  to  have  the  Americans 
take  care  of  themselves  and  keep  out  of  his 
way.  But  in  the  course  of  a  fortnight  after 
the  American  conclusion  the  aspect  of  affairs 
changed ;  obstacles  appeared  in  the  way ;  he 
became  alarmed  lest  England  should  do,  what 
it  seems  that  the  king  and  some  of  his  advisers 
probably  would  have  liked  very  well  to  do, 
viz.,  not  only  patch  up  a  conciliation  with  the 
states,  but  persuade  them  into  a  union  with 
Great  Britain  against  France.  Thereupon  he 
began  to  inveigh  loudly  against  the  bad  faith 
of  the  Americans,  and  to  employ  his  usual  tac 
tics  at  Philadelphia  to  have  them  discredited, 
and  their  acts  repudiated  by  Congress.  The 
states,  as  he  truly  said,  had  bound  themselves  to 
make  no  separate  treaty  or  peace  with  England, 
until  France  and  England  should  also  come  to 
terms  of  final  agreement ;  and  now  they  had 
broken  this  compact.  But  the  commissioners 
defended  themselves  upon  the  facts  altogether 
satisfactorily.  They  had  made  no  treaty  at 


THE  TREATY  OF  PEACE.        223 

all ;  they  had  only  agreed  that,  whenever  the 
treaty  between  France  and  England  should  be 
signed,  then  a  treaty  between  the  United  States 
and  England  should  also  be  signed,  and  the 
exact  tenor  of  this  latter  treaty  had  been  agreed 
upon.  This  had  been  done  formally  in  writing, 
over  signatures,  only  because  the  English  min 
istry  had  agreed  to  stand  by  such  a  bargain  as 
Mr.  Oswald  should  sign,  and  any  less  formal  ar 
rangement  might  be  repudiated  without  actual 
bad  faith.  They  had  taken  care  at  the  outset 
expressly  to  provide,  that  the  whole  business 
was  strictly  preparatory,  and  could  become 
definitive  only  when  England  and  France 
should  ratify  their  treaty.  It  is  instructive  to 
see  that  neither  the  French  nor  the  English 
ministers  felt  at  all  sure  that  the  Americans 
were  honest  in  this  stipulation.  From  the 
English  side  they  were  approached  with  hints 
reaching  at  least  to  a  conclusive  pacification 
and  treaty,  if  not  even  to  an  alliance  with 
Great  Britain ;  on  the  French  side  they  were 
assailed,  because  it  was  supposed  that  they 
might  very  probably  cherish  precisely  these  de 
signs.  But  these  American  gentlemen,  self- 
made  men  representing  a  self-made  nation,  and 
uneducated  in  the  aristocratic  morals  of  diplo 
macy,  astonished  the  high-bred  scions  of  nobil 
ity  witlj  whom  they  were  dealing  by  behaving 


224  JOHN  ADAMS. 

with  strict  integrity,  by  actually  telling  the 
truth  and  standing  to  their  word.  When  de 
Vergennes  and  Shelburne  had  mastered  this 
novel  idea  of  honesty,  they  went  on  with  their 
negotiations,  and  brought  them  to  a  successful 
T  issue.  Preliminaries  were  signed  by  the  con 
tending  European  powers  on  January  21,  1783  ; 
but  it  was  not  until  September  3  that  the  defini 
tive  treaties  were  all  in  shape  for  simultaneous 
execution  ;  on  that  day  the  American  commis 
sioners  had  the  pleasure  of  setting  their  hands 
to  the  most  important  treaty  that  the  United 
States  ever  has  made  or  is  likely  ever  to  make. 
The  pride  and  pleasure  which  Mr.  Jay,  Mr. 
Adams,  and,  chiefly  by  procuration,  it  must  be 
said,  Dr.  Franklin  also,  were  entitled  to  feel  at 
this  consummation  had  been  slightly  dashed  by 
the  receipt  of  a  letter  embodying  something 
very  like  a  rebuke  from  Robert  R.  Livingston, 
who  was  now  in  charge  of  the  foreign  affairs 
of  the  United  States.  Alarmed  by  the  expres 
sions  of  indignation  which  came  to  him  from 
the  Count  de  Vergennes,  that  gentleman  wrote 
to  the  envoys,  not  so  much  praising  them  for 
having  done  better  than  they  had  been  bidden, 
as  blaming  them  for  having  done  so  well  with 
out  French  assistance.  The  past  could  not  be 
undone,  most  fortunately;  but  Mr.  Living 
ston  now  wished  to  apologize,  and  to  propitiate 


THE  TREATY  OF  PEACE.        225 

de  Vergennes  by  informing  him  of  a  secret  ar 
ticle  whereby  the  southern  boundary  was  made 
contingent  upon  the  result  of  the  European  ne 
gotiations.  The  commissioners  were  naturally 
incensed  at  this  treatment  so  precisely  opposite 
to  what  they  had  handsomely  merited,  and  an 
elaborate  reply  was  prepared  by  Mr.  Jay,  and 
inserted  in  their  letter-book.  But  it  was  never 
sent ;  it  was  superfluous.  As  between  Congress 
and  the  commissioners,  it  was  the  former  body 
that  was  placed  upon  the  defensive,  and  a  very 
difficult  defensive  too.  The  less  said  about  the 
instructions  and  the  deviations  from  them  the 
better  it  was  for  the  members  of  that  over- 
timid  and  blundering  legislature.  All  the 
honor,  praise,  and  gratitude  which  the  Ameri 
can  people  had  to  bestow  belonged  solely  to  the 
commissioners,  and  few  persons  were  long  so 
dull  or  so  prejudiced  as  not  to  acknowledge  this 
truth,  and  to  give  the  honor  where  the  honor 
was  due.  Yet  it  was  a  long  while  before  Mr. 
Adams's  sense  of  indignation  wore  away;  he 
said,  with  excusable  acerbity,  "  that  an  attack 
had  been  made  on  him  by  the  Count  de  Ver 
gennes,  and  Congress  had  been  induced  to  dis 
grace  him;  that  he  would  not  bear  this  dis 
grace  if  he  could  help  it,''  etc.  A  few  days 
later  he  wrote :  — 

"  I   am   weary,    disgusted,   affronted,    and    disap- 

15 


226  JOHN  ADAMS. 

pointed.  ...  I  have  been  injured,  and  my  country 
has  joined  in  the  injury  ;  it  has  basely  prostituted  its 
own  honor  by  sacrificing  mine.  But  the  sacrifice  of 
me  was  not  so  servile  and  intolerable  as  putting  us 
all  under  guardianship.  (Congress  surrendered  their 
own  sovereignty  into  the  hands  of  a  French  minis 
ter.  Blush !  blush !  ye  guilty  records !  blush  and 
perish !  It  is  glory  to  have  broken  such  infamous 
orders.  Infamous,  I  say,  for  so  they  will  be  to  all 
posterity.  How  can  such  a  stain  be  washed  out  ? 
Can  we  cast  a  veil  over  it  and  forget  it  ?  " 

Severe  words  these,  painful  and  humiliating 
to  read ;  but  perfectly  true.  Congress,  which 
well  merited  the  lash  of  bitter  rebuke,  laid  it 
cruelly  upon  Adams  and  Jay,  who  deserved  it 
not  at  all.  But  Mr.  Adams,  even  amid  the 
utterances  of  his  bitter  resentment,  manfully 
said:  "This  state  of  mind  I  must  alter,  and 
work  while  the  day  lasts."  Of  such  sound 
quality  did  the  substratum  of  his  character 
always  prove  to  be,  whenever  events  forced 
their  way  down  to  it  through  the  thin  upper 
crusts  of  egotism  and  rashness. 

The  negotiations  at  the  Hague  and  in  Paris, 
though  they  take  a  short  time  in  the  telling, 
had  been  protracted  and  tedious ;  long  before 
they  were  completed  the  novelty  of  European 
life  had  worn  off,  and  Mr.  Adams  was  thor 
oughly,  even  pitifully  homesick.  So  soon  as 


THE  TREATY  OF  PEACE.        227 

an  agreement  had  been  reached  and  the  execu 
tion  of  a  definitive  treaty  substantially  assured, 
on  December  4, 1782,  he  sent  in  his  resignation 
of  all  his  foreign  employments,  and  wrote  to 
his  wife  with  much  positiveness  and  a  sort  of 
joyful  triumph,  that  he  should  now  soon  be  on 
the  way  home,  "  in  the  spring  or  beginning  of 
summer."  If  the  acceptance  of  his  resignation 
should  not  "  arrive  in  a  reasonable  time,"  he 
declared  that  he  would  "  come  home  without 
it."  But  by  May,  1783,  he  had  to  say  that  he 
could  not  see  "  a  possibility  of  embarking  be 
fore  September  or  October  ;  "  and  most  heart 
ily  he  added  that  he  was  in  the  "  most  disgust 
ing  and  provoking  situation  imaginable  ;  "  he 
was  so  sincerely  anxious  to  get  back  that  he 
would  rather  be  "carting  street  dust  and  marsh 
mud  "  than  be  waiting  as  he  was.  These  reit 
erations  of  his  longing,  his  resolve  to  return, 
his  expressions  of  pleasure  in  the  anticipation, 
of  vexation  at  the  repeated  delays,  are  really 
pathetic.  Events,  however,  were  too  strong  for 
him;  the  business  already  in  hand  moved  in 
crab-like  fashion ;  in  June  he  began  to  talk 
about  the  following  spring  ;  then  new  duties 
came  in  sight  faster  than  old  ones  could  be 
dispatched.  For  in  September,  1783,  he  had 
the  mingled  honor  and  disappointment  of  being 
commissioned,  in  conjunction  with  Dr.  Frank- 


228  JOHN  ADAMS. 

lin  and  Mr.  Jay,  to  negotiate  a  treaty  of... com 
merce  with  Great  Britain.  Such  a  commercial 
alliance  was  a  matter  which  he  had  long  had 
near  at  heart,  as  being  of  the  first  importance 
to  the  states  ;  the  revocation  of  his  previous 
commission  had  profoundly  annoyed  him  at  the 
time,  and  had  never  since  ceased  to  rankle  in 
his  memory ;  he  had  opinions  and  hopes  as  to 
the  future  relationship  of  the  two  countries,  to 
be  carried  out  through  the  ways  of  commerce, 
which  he  had  thought  out  with  infinite  care 
and  which  he  felt  that  he  could  do  much  to 
promote.  In  a  word,  the  opportunity  was  a 
duty,  and  he  must  stay  abroad  for  it.  Reluc 
tantly  he  reached  the  conclusion,  which  was, 
however,  obviously  inevitable.  But  he  made 
the  best  possible  compromise ;  he  wrote  to  bis 
wife  urging  her  to  come  out  with  their  daugh 
ter  to  join  him,  indeed  scarcely  leaving  her  the 
option  to  say  no,  had  she  been  so  minded. 

By  the  autumn,  instead  of  being  on  the 
ocean,  as  he  had  hoped,  he  was  on  a  sick-bed. 
His  constitution  seems  to  have  been  a  peculiar 
mixture  of  strength  and  weakness.  He  lived 
an  active,  hard-working  life,  and  survived  to  a 
goodly  old  age ;  the  likenesses  of  him  show  us 
a  sturdy  and  ruddy  man,  too  stout  for  symme 
try,  but  looking  as  though  the  rotund  habit 
were  the  result  of  a  superabundant  vigor  of 


THE   TREATY  OF  PEACE.  229 

physique  ;  he  went  through  a  great  amount  of 
open  air  exposure  and  even  hardship,  such  for 
example  as  his  horseback  trips  between  Boston 
and  Philadelphia,  his  stormy  passages  across 
the  Atlantic,  his  long,  hard  journey  from  Fer- 
rol  to  Paris,  and  many  lesser  expeditions. 
These  broke  at  intervals  the  unwholesome  in 
door  life  of  the  civilian,  and,  since  he  bore 
them  well,  ought  to  have  added  to  his  robust 
ness.  Yet  he  constantly  complains  of  his 
health,  and  at  times  becomes  quite  low-spirited 
about  it.  That  he  was  not  hypochondriacal  is 
sufficiently  proved  by  the  attacks  of  grave  ill 
ness  which  he  had  in  the  prime  of  life.  Two 
years  before  the  present  time  he  had  suffered 
from  a  fever  in  Holland.  Now  again,  in  this 
autumn  of  1783,  he  was  prostrated  by  another 
fever  of  great  severity.  He  was  cared  for  in 
Paris  by  Sir  James  Jay,  who  brought  him 
through  it ;  but  he,  was  left  much  debilitated, 
and  had  to  endure  the  tedium  of  a  long  conva 
lescence.  Most  of  this  period  he  passed  in 
London,  seeing  as  much  as  he  well  could  of  the 
capital  city  of  that  "  mother-country  "  whose 
galling  yoke  he  had  done  so  much  to  break.  He 
had  the  rare  fortune  during  this  visit,  says  his 
grandson,  "  to  witness  the  confession,  made  to 
his  Parliament  and  people  by  George  the  Third 
himself,  that  he  had  made  a  treaty  of  peace 


230  JOHN  ADAMS. 

with  the  colonies  no  longer,  but  now  the  inde 
pendent  states  of  North  America."  He  was  far 
from  fully  restored  to  vigorous  health  when  he 
received  an  unwelcome  summons  to  Amster 
dam,  to  arrange  for  meeting  "  the  immense 
flock  of  new  bills,"  which  the  states  were  draw 
ing  on  the  Dutch  bankers  with  happy  prodigal 
ity  and  a  perfect  recklessness  as  to  the  chance 
or  means  of  payment.  A  stormy  winter  voy 
age,  involving  extraordinary  and  prolonged  ex 
posure,  was  endured  more  successfully  than 
could  have  been  hoped  by  the  invalid.  Not 
less  trying,  in  a  different  way,  was  the  task 
which  he  had  to  perform  upon  his  arrival,  of 
borrowing  more  money  upon  the  hard  terms 
made  by  unwilling  lenders  with  a  borrower 
bearing,  to  speak  plainly,  a  very  disreputable 
character  in  the  financial  world.  But  he 
achieved  a  success  beyond  explanation,  except 
upon  the  principle  that  the  banking  houses 
were  already  so  deeply  engaged  for  America 
that  they  could  not  permit  her  to  become  in 
solvent. 

Meantime  Congress  sent  out  a  commission 
empowering  Mr.  Adams,  Dr.  Franklin,  and  Mr. 
Jefferson  to  negotiate  treaties  of  commerce 
with  any  foreign  powers  which  should  be  will 
ing  to  form  such  connections.  The  Prussian 
cabinet  had  already  been  in  communication 


THE  TREATY  OF  PEACE.        231 

with  Adams  on  the  subject,  and  a  new  field  of 
labor  was  thus  opened  before  him.  Fortu 
nately,  about  this  time,  in  the  summer  of  1784, 
his  wife  and  daughter  arrived ;  he  began  house 
keeping  at  Auteuil,  close  by  Paris  ;  and  the 
reestablishment  of  a  domestic  circle,  with  occu 
pation  sufficiently  useful  and  not  too  laborious, 
reconciled  him  to  a  longer  exile.  He  had  sev 
eral  months  of  a  kind  of  comfort  and  happiness 
to  which  he  had  long  been  a  stranger,  yet  upon 
which  he  placed  a  very  high  value,  for  he  was 
a  man  naturally  of  domestic  tastes  and  strong 
family  affections. 

But  Congress  prepared  another  interruption 
for  him,  by  appointing  him,  February  24,  _  1785, 
minister  to  Great  Britain.  The  position  could 
be  looked  at  from  more  than  one  point  of  view. 
In  the  picturesque  aspect,  it  was  striking  and 
impressive  to  appear  as  the  first  accredited  en 
voy  in  the  court  of  that  venerable  and  noble 
nation  of  which  his  newly-created  country  had 
so  lately  been  only  a  subject  part.  As  the 
Count  de  Vergennes  said  to  him,  "It  is  a  mark." 
It  was  indeed  a  "  mark,"  and  a  very  proud  one, 
and  the  responsibility  imposed  upon  the  man 
appointed  to  set  that  mark  before  the  world 
was  very  grave.  Mr.  Adams  was  so  constituted 
as  to  feel  this  burden  fully  ;  but  he  was  also 
so  constituted  as  to  bear  it  well.  There  was 


232  JOHN  ADAMS. 

about  him  very  much  of  the  grandeur  of  sim 
plicity,  a  grandeur  which,  it  must  be  confessed, 
scarcely  survived  the  eighteenth  century,  and 
has  belonged  only  to  the  earliest  generation  of 
our  statesmen.  He  had  natural  dignity,  self- 
respect,  and  independence,  and  he  copied  no 
forms  of  social  development  alien  to  the  train 
ing  of  his  youth.  That  youth  had  been  pro 
vincial,  but  by  no  means  of  that  semi-barbarous 
and  backwoods  character  that  was  afterwards 
prevalent  in  the  country.  Colonial  Boston  was 
a  civilized  community,  wherein  a  liberal  educa 
tion  was  to  be  had,  some  broad  views  to  be 
acquired,  and  honorable  ambitions  nourished. 
One  could  learn  there,  if  not  much  of  the  tech 
nical  polish  of  aristocratic  society,  at  least  a 
gentlemanly  bearing  and  plain  good  manners. 
John  Adams  had  the  good  sense  not  to  seek  to 
exchange  these  qualities  for  that  peculiar  finish 
of  high  European  society,  which  certainly  he 
could  never  have  acquired.  Thus  in  the  mere 
matter  of  "  making  an  appearance  "  he  was  a 
well-selected  representative  of  the  states.  Nor 
was  this  so  petty  a  point  of  view  as  it  might 
•  seem.  Much  of  real  importance  could  be  af 
fected  by  the  demeanor  and  personal  impres 
sion  made  by  the  American  minister.  "  You 
will  be  stared  at  a  great  deal,"  said  the  Duke 
of  Dorset,  preparing  Mr.  Adams  for  that  pe- 


THE  TREATY  OF  PEACE.        233 

culiar  insolence  which  Englishmen  have  car 
ried  to  a  point  unknown  in  any  other  age  or 
among  any  other  people.  "  I  fear  they  will 
gaze  with  evil  eyes,"  said  Mr.  Adams ;  the 
Duke  assured  him,  with  more  of  civility  than 
prophecy,  that  he  believed  they  would  not. 
Mrs.  Adams  perhaps  felt  this  much  more  keenly 
than  her  husband.  She  was  made  very  anx 
ious  by  the  thought  that  she  had  the  social 
repute  of  her  countrywomen  to  answer  for. 

Fortunately  the  presentation  of  Mr.  Adams 
to  the  king  was  private.  The  American  after 
ward  frankly  acknowledged  that  he  felt  and 
displayed  some  nervousness  in  his  address.  He 
would  have  been  utterly  devoid  of  imagination 
and  emotion,  almost,  one  might  say,  of  intelli 
gence,  had  he  not  done  so,  and  his  manifesta 
tion  of  excitement  is  more  than  pardonable. 
He  had  the  good  fortune,  however,  to  make  a 
remark,  which  has  taken  its  place  among  the 
famous  sayings  of  history.  The  monarch  inti 
mated  that  he  was  not  unaware  of  Mr.  Adams's 
feelings  of  imperfect  confidence,  at  least,  to 
wards  the  French  ministry,  and  so  expressed 
this  as  to  put  Mr.  Adams  in  a  position  of  some 
delicacy  and  possible  embarrassment.  The  re 
ply  had  the  happy  readiness  of  an  inspiration. 
The  ambassador  said  a  few  words,  "  apparently," 
says  Mr.  C.  F.  Adams,  "falling  in  with  the 


234  JOHN  ADAMS. 

sense  of  the  king's  language;"  but  he  closed 
with  the  sentence  :  "  I  must  avow  to  your  maj 
esty  that  I  have  no  attachment  but  to  my  own 
country."  George  III.  had  the  good  sense  and 
sound  feeling  to  be  perfectly  pleased  with  a 
statement  so  manly  and  independent,  in  spite 
of  certain  disagreeable  reflections  which  might 
easily  have  been  aroused  by  it,  and  though  it 
was  something  nearer  to  a  correction  than  is 
often  administered  to  a  royal  personage. 

But  if  at  this  interview  George  III.  behaved 
like  a  gentleman  of  liberal  mind,  he  was  not 
equal  to  the  stress  of  long  continuing  such 
behavior.  He  afterward  habitually  treated 
Mr.  Adams  with  marked  coldness,  he  publicly 
turned  his  back  upon  that  gentleman  and  Mr. 
Jefferson,  and  he  thus  set  an  example  which 
was  promptly  and  heartily  followed  by  the 
whole  court  circle,  with  only  a  few  individual 
exceptions.  This,  of  course,  made  Mr.  Adams's 
stay  in  London  far  from  comfortable.  Occupy- 
ing  a  position  necessarily  stimulating  all  the 
sensitiveness  of  his  proud  nature,  living  in  a 
strange  land  lately  hostile  and  still  unfriendly, 
rebuffed  in  nearly  every  society  by  frigid  inso 
lence,  he  maintained  as  much  retirement  as 
was  possible.  Yet  he  found  some  little  conso 
lation  and  moral  aid  in  noting  "an  awkward 
timidity  in  general."  "This  people,"  he  re- 


THE  TREATY  OF  PEACE.        235 

marked,  "  cannot  look  me  in  the  face  ;  there  is 
conscious  guilt  and  shame  in  their  countenances    ' 
when  they  look  at  me.   "They  feel  that  they 
have  behaved  ill,  and  that  I  am  sensible  of  it." 
Moreover  his  salary,  which  had  lately  been  very 
inopportunely  reduced,  was  too  narrow  to  en 
able  him  to  keep  up  a  style  of  living  like  that 
of  other  foreign  ministers,  and  it  would  have 
been  folly  to  pretend  that,  under  the  peculiar 
circumstances,  this  was  not  a  little  humiliating. 
"Some  years  hence,"  said   his  wife,  "it  may 
be  a  pleasure  to  reside  here  in  the  character 
of  American  minister,  but  with  the  present  sal 
ary  and  the  present  temper  of  the  English  no 
one  need  envy  the  embassy."     No  amount  of 
sound  sense  or  just  and  spirited  reasoning  could 
argue    down   a   sense   of    irritation    at   being 
obliged  to  make  a  poverty-stricken  showing  be 
fore  the  critical,  malicious,  and  hostile  eyes  of 
persons  of  real  ability  and  distinction,  yet  who, 
having  been  bred  amid  pomp  and  circumstance, 
gravely  regarded  these  as  matters  of  profound- 
est  substance.     But  all  this  might  have  been 
tranquilly  endured,  had  not  vastly  greater  mor 
tifications  been  chargeable  to  his  own  country. 
He  was  in  duty  bound   to  press  for  a  fulfill 
ment  of  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  peace  on  the 
part  of  Great  Britain ;  but  so  soon  as  the  first 
words  dropped  from  his  mouth,  he  was  met  with 


236  JOHN  ADAMS. 

the  query,  why  his  own  country  did  not  per 
form  her  part  in  this  reciprocal  contract.  The 
only  reply  was,  that  she  could  not ;  that  the 
government  was  too  feeble  ;  that  it  was  hardly 
a  government  at  all.  Then  the  Englishmen 
retorted  with  insolent  truth,  that  in  dealing 
with  such  a  flickering  existence  they  must 
keep  hold  of  some  security.  In  a  word,  Adams 
represented  a  congress  of  states,  in  no  proper 
sense  of  the  word  a  nation,  divided  among 
themselves,  almost  insolvent,  unable  to  per 
form  their  agreements,  irresponsible,  apparently 
falling  asunder  into  political  chaos  and  finan 
cial  ruin.  On  every  side  the  finger  of  scorn 
and  contempt  was  pointed  at  these  feeble  crea 
tures,  who  had  tried  to  join  in  the  stately  march 
of  the  nations  before  they  could  so  much  as 
stand  up  for  ever  so  short  a  time  on  their  own 
legs.  To  all  the  reproaches  and  insults,  bred 
of  this  pitiable  display,  there  could  be  no  re 
ply  save  in  the  unsatisfactory  way  of  prophe 
cies.  Altogether,  there  was  no  denying  the 
truth,  that  this  English  residence  was  very 
disagreeable.  Mr.  Adams's  courage  and  inde 
pendence  were  never  put  to  a  severer  test; 
and  though  he  presented  a  very  fine  spectacle, 
admirable  before  sensible  men  then  and  before 
posterity  afterward,  yet  he  himself  could  get 
scant  comfort. 


THE  TREATY  OF  PEACE.        237 

Neither  had  he  the  compensating  pleasure  of 
feeling  that  he  was  accomplishing  any  service 
of  real  value  for  his  country.  Even  before 
peace  had  been  actually  concluded  he  had  tried 
to  impress  upon  such  Englishmen  as  he  had 
fallen  in  with,  the  points  of  what  he  regarded 
as  a  wise  policy  to  be  pursued  by  Great  Britain 
towards  the  states.  He  had  given  deep  and 
careful  reflection  to  the  future  relationship  of 
the  two  countries,  which  he  felt  to  be  of  mo 
mentous  concern  to  both.  He  had  reached  firm 
convictions  upon  the  subject,  which  he  urged 
with  extreme  warmth  and  earnestness  when 
ever  opportunity  offered,  sometimes  indeed  in 
his  eager  way  making  opportunities  which 
more  diplomatically-minded  men  would  have 
thought  it  best  not  to  seize.  His  views  were 
never  brought  to  the  test  of  trial,  and  of  course 
never  received  the  seal  of  success.  Yet  it 
seems  credible  that  they  did  not  less  honor  to 
his  head  than  they  certainly  did  to  his  heart. 
He  hoped  to  see  England  accept  the  new  situ 
ation  in  a  frank  and  not  unkindly  spirit. 
Friendship  between  the  two  countries  seemed 
to  him  not  only  possible  butjjatural ;  more 
pecially  since  friendship  appeared  likely  to 
promote  the  material  prosperity  of  each.  As 
mercantile  communities  they  might  be  ex 
pected  to  see  and  to  value  the  probable  results 


238  JOHN  ADAMS. 

of  a  good  understanding.  Each  might  forget 
the  past,  England  condoning  a  successful  re 
bellion,  the  states  forgiving  years  of  oppression 
and  the  vast  price  of  freedom.  As  friends  and 
allies,  commercially  at  least,  the  two  might  go 
on  to  prosperity  and  greatness  far  beyond  what 
would  have  been  possible  beneath  the  previous 
conditions.  Together  they  might  gather  and 
divide  the  wealth  of  the  world.1  Perhaps  there 
was  a  little  of  romance  in  this  horoscope ;  yet 
it  may  have  been  both  shrewd  and  practicable 
in  a  purely  business  point  of  view,  so  to  speak. 
But  in  desiring  to  carry  it  out  Mr.  Adams  drew 
great  drafts  upon  a  very  scanty  reserve  of  mag 
nanimity.  America's  capacity  to  forgive  and 
forget  was  never  tried  ;  whether  it  would  have 
been  so  great  as  he  required,  cannot  be  known. 
For  England,  who  held  the  key  to  the  future 
by  having  first  to  declare  her  commercial  pol 
icy,  did  at  once,  decisively,  and  with  manifes 
tations  of  rancorous  ungraciousness,  establish 
a  scheme  of  hostile  repression.  Her  plans  were 
careful,  thorough,  merciless.  The  states  were 
to  be  crushed  in  and  driven  back  upon  them 
selves  at  every  point,  to  be  hampered  by  every 
tax,  burden,  and  restriction  that  ingenious 
hatred  could  devise,  to  be  shut  out  from  every 

1  See,  for  example,  the  conversation  with  Mr.  Oswald,  De 
cember  9,  1782,  reported  in  the  diary,  Works,  iii.  344  et  seq. 


THE  TREATY  OF  PEACE.        239 

port  and  from  every  trade  that  British  power 
could  close  against  them,  in  a  word,  to  be  hope 
lessly  curtailed,  impoverished,  and  ruined  if  the 
great  commercial  nation  of  the  world  could  by 
any  means  effect  this  object.  Military  efforts 
having  failed,  civil  measures  were  to  be  resorted 
to  with  no  diminution  of  obstinate  and  bitter 
animosity.  It  was  only  the  field  of  hostilities 
which  was  changed. 

Mr.  Adams  beheld  these  developments  with 
dismay  and  cruel  disappointment.  His  gener 
ous  forecastings,  his  broad  schemes  and  brill 
iant  hopes  were  all  brought  to  nought ;  his 
worst  dread  must  be  substituted  for  these  fond 
anticipations.  He  was  not  discouraged  for  his 
county,  nor  had  he  any  idea  at  all  that  she 
should  give  up  the  game,  or  that  she  must  in 
the  long  run  surely  be  beaten.  He  only  re 
gretted  the  severe  struggle,  the  needless  waste, 
which  were  imposed  upon  her  by  what  he  re 
garded  as  narrow  and  revengeful  conduct.  But 
he  could  not  help  it.  He  did  all  in  his  power  ; 
but  to  no  purpose.  When  at  last  he  became 
finally  convinced  of  this,  when  he  saw  that 
nothing  could  be  accomplished  at  London  for 
the  states,  he  made  up  his  mind  that  it  was  not 
worth  while  for  him  to  do  violence  to  his  in 
clinations  by  remaining  there  longer. 

Accordingly  he  sent  in  his  resignation,  and 


240  JOHN  ADAMS. 

V  on  AprL^_20,  1788,  set  sail  for  home,  bringing 
with  him  some  very  correct  notions  as  to  Eng 
lish  policy  and  sentiment  towards  the  states, 
and  yet  feeling  much  less  animosity  towards 
that  country  than  might  have  been  looked  for 
even  in  a  man  of  a  less  hot  disposition  than 
his.  A  report  commendatory  of  his  services  in 
Great  Britain,  drawn  by  Jay,  was  laid  before 
Congress,  September  24,  1787.  But  there  was 
a  disposition  among  some  members  to  think 
that  he  had  not  managed  matters  with  the  best 
skill  and  discretion,  and  the  report  was  rejected. 
A  little  reflection,  however,  made  evident  the 
unjust  severity  of  this  indirect  censure,  and  a 
few  days  later  the  resolutions  were  easily  car 
ried,  as  they  ought  to  have  been  in  the  first 
instance. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  VICE-PRESIDENCY. 

THE  homeward  voyage  from  Europe  breaks 
the Jjfe  of  John  Adams  into  two  parts,  —  very 
dissimilar  in  their  characteristics.  Thus  far 
he^has  appeared  a  great  and  successful  man. 
He  has  owed  little  or  nothing  to  good  fortune. 
His  achievements  have  been  only  the  fair  re 
sults  of  his  hard  toil  and  his  personal  risk ;  his 
distinction  has  been  won  by  his  ability  and  his 
self-devotion.  His  fair  deserts  at  the  hands  of 
his  countrymen  are  second  only  to  those  of 
Washington,  and  are  far  beyond  those  of  any 
other  public  servant  of  the  time.  He  has  ap 
peared  honest,  able,  patriotic,  laborious,  disin 
terested,  altogether  a  noble  and  admirable  char 
acter  ;  generally  his  faults  have  been  in  abey 
ance  ;  his  virtues  have  stood  out  in  bold  relief. 
Had  his  career  ended  at  this  point  he  would 
have  been  less  distinguished  than  he  is  in  the 
knowledge  and  estimation  of  the  multitude  of 
after  generations,  but  he  would  have  appeared 
a  greater  man  than  he  does  to  all  persons  suffi- 

16 


242  JOHN  ADAMS. 

ciently  familiar  with  the  early  history  of  the 
United  States  to  make  their  opinion  and  their 
esteem  really  valuable.  Though  he  is  to  reach 
higher  official  positions  in  the  future  than  in 
the  past,  yet  it  is  undeniable  that  the  past  em 
bodies  far  the  brighter  part  of  his  public  life. 
Heretofore  the  service  and  advantage  of  his 
country  have  been  pursued  by  him  with  a  sin 
gle  eye  ;  his  foolish  jealousy  towards  Washing 
ton  has  been  the  only  important  blemish  which 

4  any  fair-minded  opponent  can  urge  against  his 
character ;  and  though  he  has  committed  slight 
errors  in  discretion,  yet  upon  all  substantial 
points,  at  least,  his  judgment  has  been  sound. 
But  henceforth,  though  his  patriotism  will  not 
to  his  own  consciousness  become  less  pure  or  a 
less  controlling  motive,  yet  the  observer  will 
see  that  it  becomes  adulterated  with  a  concern 
for  himself,  unintentional  indeed  and  unsus 
pected  by  him,  but  nevertheless  unquestion 
ably  lowering  him  perceptibly.  His  vanity  is 
to  make  him  sometimes  ridiculous ;  his  egotism 

,  >is  occasionally  to  destroy  the  accuracy  of  his 
vision,  so  that  he  is  to  misjudge  his  own  just 
proportion  in  comparison  with  other  men,  with 
the  great  party  of  which  he  becomes  a  mem 
ber,  even  with  the  country  which  he  fancies 
that  he  is  serving  with  entire  singleness  of  pur- 
^  pose.  Anger  will  at  times  destroy  his  dignity ; 


THE    VICE-PRESIDENCY.  243 

disappointment  will  lead  him  to  do  what  self-  |  V 
respect  would  condemn.  He  will  be  led  into 
more  than  one  unfortunate  personal  feud,  in 
which,  though  more  wronged  than  wronging, 
he  will  not  appear  altogether  free  from  blame. 
In  a  word,  the  personal  element  is  henceforth 
to  play  much  too  large  a  part  in  the  composi 
tion,  and  the  politician  is  to  mar  the  aspect  of 
the  statesman.  Yet  this  criticism  must  not  be 
construed  too  severely  ;  to  the  end  he  remains, 
so  far  as  he  is  able  to  read  his  own  heart  and  to 
know  himself,  a  thoroughly  honest-minded  and 
devoted  servant  of  his  country. 

Adams  came  home  to  find  that  new  and 
weighty  subjects  of  popular  concernment  were 
absorbing  the  attention  of  all  persons.  Inde 
pendence  had  become  an  historical  fact,  belong 
ing  to  the  past,  a  truth  established  and  done 
with ;  foreign  relationships,  treaties,  alliances, 
were  for  the  time  being  little  thought  of.  These 
matters  had  been  his  department  of  labor. 
With  the  novel  and  all-engrossing  topic  which 
had  crowded  them  out  of  the  people's  thought 
he  had  no  connection  ;  and  he  stood  silently  by 
while  men,  whose  names  until  lately  had  been 
less  famous  than  his  own,  were  filling  the  gen 
eral  ear  with  ardent  discussions  concerning  that 
new  constitution  which  they  had  lately  framed 
and  sent  out  to  the  people  for  acceptance  or 


244  JOHN  ADAMS. 

rejection  as  the  case  might  be.  In  the  consti 
tutional  convention  Adams  would  have  been 
peculiarly  well  fitted  to  play  a  prominent  and 
influential  part,  had  he  been  in  the  country 
during  its  sessions.  His  studies  and  reflection 
had  been  largely  in  that  direction  for  many 
years,  and  his  observations  and  practical  expe 
rience  abroad  gave  him  advantages  over  all  the 
members  of  that  body.  But  the  tardy  commu 
nication  with  Europe  had  prevented  his  keep 
ing  abreast  with  these  matters ;  and  of  course 
he  could  take  no  active  part ;  indeed  many  of 
the  state  conventions  were  in  final  session 
while  he  was  crossing  the  ocean,  and  Massa 
chusetts  ratified  before  his  arrival.  On  the 
whole  he  was  well  pleased  with  the  document, 
not  regarding  it  as  perfect,  as  indeed  no  one 
among  its  friends  did  ;  but  in  the  main  believ 
ing  it  to  embody  much  good  and  to  involve 
such  possibilities  as  to  make  it  an  experiment 
well  worth  trying.  Certainly  he  was  not  among 
those  who  dreaded  that  it  created  too  strong, 
too  centralized,  too  imperial  a  system  of  gov 
ernment.  He,  however,  confined  himself  to 
watching  with  sympathy  the  labors  of  those 
engaged  in  promoting  its  success,  and  rejoiced 
with  them  in  a  triumph  won  without  his  assist 
ance. 

Possibly  the  fact  that  Adams  had  been  allied 


THE    VICE-PRESIDENCY.  245 

with  neither  party  in  this  struggle  was  in  sub 
stantial  aid  of  his  just  deserts  from  other 
causes,  when  it  became  necessary  to  select  a 
candidate  for  the  vice-presidency.  If  past  ser 
vices  only  were  to  be  rewarded,  it  is  as  certain 
that  he  deserved  the  second  place  as  that  Wash 
ington  deserved  the  first.  He  received  it,  but 
not  in  such  a  handsome  way  as  he  had  a  right 
to  anticipate.  That-first  election,  as  compared 
with  subsequent  ones,  was  a  very  crude  and 
clumsy  piece  of  business  from  the  politician's 
point  of  view.  The  Federalists,  that  is  to  say 
the  friends  of  tlienew  constitution,  ought  to 
have  united  upon  Adams ;  but  they  had  not 
time  for  crystallization.  Their  opponents,  the 
enemies  of  the  constitution,  were  even  less 
able  to  consolidate.  Accordingly  the  votes  for 
vice-president  were  disorganized  and  scattering 
to  a  degree  which  now  seems  singularly,  even 
ludicrously  bungling.  Personal  and  local  pre 
dilections  and  enmities  were  expressed  with  a 
freedom  never  afterwards  possible.  The  result 
was  that  out  of  sixty-nine  votes  Adams  had  only 
thirty-four,  a  trifle  less  than  a  majority,  but 
enough  to  elect  him.  He  had  not  been  voted 
for  specifically  as  vice-president,  of  course,  such 
not  being  then  the  constitutional  regulation  ; 
but  this  had  not  the  less  been  the  unques 
tioned  meaning  of  the  voting,  since  Washing 


246  JOHN  ADAMS. 

ton's  election  was  tacitly  a  unanimous  under 
standing.  Yet  if  it  could  have  been  explicitly 
stipulated  that  the  second  vote  of  each  elector 
was  given  for  a  vice-president  there  would  un 
doubtedly  have  been  a  larger  total  for  Adams. 
For  several  votes  which  in  such  case  would 
have  been  cast  for  him  were  now  turned  from 
him,  in  order,  as  it  was  plausibly  said,  to  avoid 
the  danger  of  a  unanimous  and  therefore 
equal  vote  for  him  and  Washington.  But  this 
argument  was  disingenuous.  There  never  was 
the  slightest  Chance  of  a  unanimous  vote  for 
Adams,  and  the  withholding  of  votes  from  him 
was  really  designed  only  to  curtail  his  personal 
prestige  by  keeping  him  conspicuously  in  a 
secondary  position.  It  was  the  mind  and  hand 
of  Alexander  Hamilton  which  chiefly  arranged 
and  carried  out  this  scheme,  not  wisely  or  gen 
erously,  it  must  be  confessed.  It  was  done  not 
with  any  hope  or  even  wish  to  prevent  Mr. 
Adams  from  alighting  on  the  vice-presidential 
perch,  but  only  to  clip  his  wings  as  a  precau 
tion  against  too  free  subsequent  flights.  This 
was  the  first  occasion  upon  which  these  two 
men  had  been  brought  into  any  relationship 
with  each  other,  and  certainly  it  did  not  augur 
well  for  their  future  harmony.  Unfortunately, 
the  worst  auspices  which  could  be  seen  in  it 
were  fulfilled.  A  personal  prejudice,  improp- 


THE   VICE-PRESIDENCY.  247 

erly  called  distrust,  on  the  part  of  Hamilton 
towards  Adams,  from  this  time  forth  led  to  do 
ings  which  Ada  ins,  being  human,  could  not  but 
resent ;  mutual  dislike  grew  into  strong  ani 
mosity,  which  in  time  ripened  into  bitter  vin- 
dictiveness.  The  quarrel  had  such  vitality  that 
it  survived  to  subsequent  generations,  so  that 
later  historians  in  each  family  have  kept  the 
warfare  immortal.  The  Adams  writers  repre 
sent  Hamilton  as  clandestine,  underhanded,  sub 
stantially  dishonorable.  The  Hamilton  writers 
represent  Mr.  Adams  as  an  obstinate,  wrong- 
headed  old  blunderer,  whom  their  distinguished 
progenitor  in  vain  strove  to  keep  from  working 
perpetual  serious  mischief.  In  fact,  Hamilton, 
though  constantly  carried  by  his  antipathy  be 
yond  the  limits  of  good  judgment,  did  nothing 
morally  reprehensible ;  Adams,  though  com 
mitting  very  provoking  errors  as  a  politician 
and  party  leader,  never  went  far  wrong  as 
a  statesman  and  patriot.  In  the  present  trans 
action  of  this  first  election,  Hamilton  unques 
tionably  overdid  matters.  Even  if  it  be  ad 
mitted  that  his  avowed  basis  of  action  was 
sound,  yet  he  diverted  votes  from  Adams  be 
yond  the  need  of  his  purpose,  and  exposed  him 
self  to  imputations  which  he  would  have  done 
better  to  avoid.  But  his  exertion  of  influence 
through  letters  to  his  friends  was  not  blame- 


248  JOHN  ADAMS. 

worthy  upon  any  other  ground  than  this  of  in 
discretion  ;  he  had  a  perfect  right  to  use  his 
authority  with  individuals  as  he  did.  Adams 
came  into  office,  not  so  much  gratified  at  hav 
ing  gained  it  as  embittered  at  having  been  de 
prived  of  a  free  and  fair  working  of  his  chances, 
as  he  expressed  it.  It  was  an  unfortunate 
frame  of  mind  in  which  to  start  upon  a  new 
career. 

On  April  20  Mr.  Adams  was  introduced  to 
the  chair  of  the  senate,  and  delivered  a  brief 
inaugural  address.  With  an  admirably  happy 
choice  of  language,  not  without  a  touch  of 
satire,  he  spoke  of  his  office  as  "  a  respectable 
situation."  It  was  not  a  position  in  which 
either  by  nature  or  by  past  experience  he  was 
fitted  to  shine;  as  he  correctly  said,  he  had 
been  more  accustomed  to  share  in  debates  than 
to  preside  over  them.  He  was  always  full  of 
interest  in  whatever  was  going  forward,  hot  and 
combative,  and  ready  of  speech,  so  that  in 
many  a  fray  his  tongue  must  have  quivered 
behind  his  teeth,  fiercely  impatient  to  break 
loose.  But  he  had  some  unexpected  compen 
sation  for  mere  silent  "  respectability  "  in  an 
unusual  number  of  opportunities  to  exercise 
personal  power  in  important  matters.  Cer 
tainly  no  other  vice-president  has  ever  had  the 
like,  and  probably  no  officer  of  the  United 


THE    VICE-PRESIDENCY.  249 

States  has  ever  been  able  to  do  so  much  by 
positive  acts  of  individual  authority.  This  was 
due  to  the  equal  division  of  parties  in  the  sen 
ate,  and  his  right  to  give  the  casting  vote. 

The  chief  measures  introduced  in  those  early 
days  were  constructive,  giving  permanent  form 
and  character  to  the  government.  It  is  true,  as 
has  been  so  often  said,  that  there  were  at  first 
no  parties,  strictly  so  called,  that  is  to  say  no 
political  organizations  having  avowed  leaders 
and  defined  principles.  But  there  was  the  raw 
material,  in  the  shape  of  two  bodies  of  men 
holding  fundamentally  different  opinions  as  to 
the  constitution,  and  as  to  the  government  to 
be  set  up  and  conducted  under  it.  The  Feder 
alists,  as  they  already  began  to  be  called,  had 
the  advantage  of  immediate  and  clearly  defined 
purposes  and  of  able  leaders.  There  were  cer 
tain  things  which  they  wished  to  have  done,  a 
series  of  acts  which  they  sought  to  have  passed 
by  Congress.  Hamilton,  an  ideal  leader  for 
precisely  such  a  campaign,  devised  the  general 
scheme,  got  ready  the  specific  measures,  fur 
nished  the  arguments,  controlled  senators  and 
representatives.  But  not  infrequently  it  hap 
pened  that  important  Federalist  measures  hung 
doubtful  in  an  evenly  divided  senate,  waiting 
to  receive  the  breath  of  life  from  the  casting 
vote  of  the  vice-president.  They  always  got 


250  JOHN  ADAMS. 

it  from  him.  He  was  not  in  the  modern  sense 
of  the  phrase  by  any  means  a  party  man ;  he 
acted  beneath  no  sense  of  allegiance,  in  obedi 
ence  to  no  bond  of  political  fellowship.  He  had 
not  been  nominated  or  elected  by  any  party ; 
certainly  he  had  not  the  hearty  or  undivided 
support  of  any  party.  Consequently  he  was 
perfectly  free  to  vote,  and  he  did  vote  upon 
every  measure  solely  with  reference  to  his  own 
opinion  of  its  merits  and  its  effect.  He  could 
not  be  charged  by  any  one  with  disloyalty  or  in 
gratitude,  however  he  might  at  any  time  choose 
to  vote.  Nevertheless,  no  less  than  twenty 
times  during  the  life  of  the  first  Congress  he 
X  voted  for  the  Federalists. 

In  fact,  Adams  was  by  his  moral  and  mental 
nature  a  Federalist.  Practical,  energetic,  self- 
willed,  he  believed  in  authority,  which  indeed 
he  was  resolved  for  his  own  part  always  to 
have  and  to  exercise.  The  helplessness  of 
the  old  so-called  government  of  the  states,  and 
their  consequent  poor  standing  abroad,  had  cor 
roborated  these  instinctive  conclusions.  High 
in  office,  with  a  chance  of  rising  still  higher, 
even  to  the  pinnacle,  he  intended  that  the  gov 
ernment  of  which  he  was  a  part  should  be  pow 
erful  and  respected.  W^en  _the  question  was 
raised  as  to  the  president's  power  to  remove  his 
cabinet  officers  without  the  advice  and  consent 


THE    VICE-PRESIDENCY.  251 

QtJhfi.  senate,.  Adams   carried   tlie  measure  by 
his  casting  vote  in  favor  of.  ibak authority,  and 
malicious  people   said  that  he  w.as  dignifying  . 
the  office  because  he   expected  in  due  time  to 
fill  it.    But  he  was  no  more  a  democrat  than  he 
was  an  aristocrat;   he  believed  in  the  masses 
not  as  governors,  but  at  best  only  as  electors  of 
governors.      His   theory   of   equality   between 
men  was  limited  to  an  equality  of  rights  before 
the  law.1     In  point  of  fitness   to   manage  the 
affairs   of    the    nation    he   well    knew  that,  as 
matter  of  fact,  there  was  the  greatest  inequal 
ity  ;  he  would  have  laughed  to  scorn  the  notion 
that  there  were  many  men  who  could  be  set  in       / 
competition  with  himself  in  such  functions,  f  He 
believed  that  there  was  a  governing  class,,  and 
that  in  it  he  occupied  no  insignificant  position ; 
he  was  resolved  to  keep  that  class  where  it  be 
longed,  at  the  top  of  society.   '  But  he  did  not 
believe  that  the  right  to  be  in  that  class  was 
heritable,  like  houses   and   lands;    it  was  ap 
purtenant  only  to   mental    and   moral   fitness. 
He  was  sometimes  accused,  like  other  Federal 
ists,  of  an  undue  partiality  for  the  British  form 
of  government.     But  he  scouted  with  curt  con 
tempt  the  charge  that  he  had  any  "  design  or 
desire  "  to  introduce  a  "  king,  lords,  and  com- 

1  See,  for  example,  his  remarks  on  equality  in  a  letter  of 
Feb.  4,  1794;  C.  F.  Adams's  Life  of  Adams,  oct.  ed.,  p.  462. 


252  JOHN  ADAMS. 

mons,  or  in  other  words  an  hereditary  executive 
or  an  hereditary  senate,  either  into  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  or  that  of  any  indi 
vidual  state."  He  was  therefore  no  aristocrat 
in  the  common  sense  of  the  phrase.  The 
charge  of  a  predilection  for  kings  and  lords 
was  rank  absurdity  in  his  case,  as  in  the  cases 
of  most  of  the  other  Americans  against  whom 
it  was  brought ;  but  it  was  so  serviceable  and 
popular  a  shape  of  abuse,  that  it  was  liberally 
employed  by  the  anti-Federalists  for  many 
years,  and  Adams  suffered  from  it  as  much  or 
more  than  any  other  public  man  of  the  times. 
There  was,  however,  that  certain  semblance  or 
very  slight  foundation  of  truth  in  this  allega 
tion  of  aristocratic  tendencies  which  is  usually 
to  be  found  in  those  general  beliefs  which 
nevertheless  are  substantially  false.  In  1770, 
in  the  simple  provincial  days,  when  he  was  only 
thirty-four  years  old,  he  said :  t4  Formalities 
and  ceremonies  are  an  abomination  in  my  sight, 
—  I  hate  them  in  religion,  government,  sci 
ence,  life."  But  there  was  in  him  an  instinct 
which  he  little  suspected  when  he  wrote  these 
words  in  the  days  of  youthful  ardor  and  sim 
plicity.  As  he  grew  older,  saw  more  of  the 
world,  and  found  himself  among  the  men  hap 
pily  entitled  to  receive  the  trappings  of  author 
ity,  he  grew  fond  of  such  ornamentation.  He 


THE    VICE-PRESIDENCY.  253 

conceived  that  high  office  should  have  appropri 
ate  surroundings ;  undoubtedly  he  carried  this 
notion  to  excess  upon  some  occasions.  But  it 
was  the  office  and  not  the  man  which  he  wished 
to  exalt.  The  trouble  was  that  people  could 
not  draw  the  distinction,  which  seemed  fine  but 
was  essential.  Nor  could  he  assist  them  to  do 
so  by  discretion  in  his  own  conduct.  For  ex 
ample,  his  behavior  provoked  criticism  along 
a  considerable  portion  of  his  route  from  home 
upon  his  journey  to  be  inaugurated  as  vice- 
president,  upon  which  occasion  he  rode  amid 
what  his  detractors  chose  to  call  an  "escort  of 
horse."  The  question  of  titles  coming  up  im 
mediately  after  the  organization  of  Congress,  he 
was  well  understood,  in  spite  of  his  disclaim 
ers,  to  favor  some  fine  phraseology  of  this  kind. 
His  advice  to  Washington  concerning  the 
proper  etiquette  to  be  established  by  the  presi 
dent  savored  largely  of  the  same  feeling.  He  ^ 
talked  of  dress  and  undress,  of  attendants, 
gentlemen-in-waiting,  chamberlains,  etc.,  as  if 
he  were  arranging  the  household  of  a  Euro 
pean  monarch.  But  lie  had  seen  much  of  this 
sort  ot'  thing,  and  had  observed  that  it  exerted 
a  real  power,  whether  it  ought  to  or  not.  The 
oflice  of  president,  he  said,  u  has  no  equal  in 
the  world,  excepting  those  only  which  are  held 
by  crowned  heads ;  nor  is  the  royal  authority 


254  JOHN  ADAMS. 

>  in  all  cases  to  be  compared  with  it.  ...  If  the 
state  and  pomp  essential  to  this  great  depart 
ment  are  not,  in  a  good  degree,  preserved,  it 
will  be  in  vain  for  America  to  hope  for  consid 
eration  with  foreign  powers." 

Such  a  matter  as  this  seems  of  small  conse 
quence,  but  it  meant  very  much  in  those  days. 
Moreover,  the  opposition  wanted  some  one  to 
abuse,  a  fact  which  Adams  would  have  done 
well  to  make  food  for  reflection,  but  did  not. 
A  For  a  long  while  they  had  to  hold  Washington 
sacred ;  they  stood  in  some  awe  of  Hamilton, 
whose  political  principles  they  could  impugn, 
but  whom  they  could  not  and  indeed  dared  not 
try  to  make  ridiculous ;  Adams  alone  served 
their  turn  as  a  target  for  personal  vituperation. 
He  had  not  the  art  of  conciliation ;  he  \vas 
growing  extravagantly  vain  ;  he  was  dogmatic; 
without  being  quarrelsome,  yet  he  had  no  skill 
in  avoiding  quarrels.  He  was  a  prominent 
man,  yet  had  no  personal  following,  no  praeto 
rian  guard  of  devoted  personal  admirers  to  fight 
defensive  battles  in  his  behalf.  Neither  was  he 
popular  with  the  principal  men  of  his  own 
party,  who  cared  little  how  vehemently  or  even 
how  unjustly  he  was  assaulted  by  his  oppo 
nents.  He  was  therefore  constantly  pricked  by 
many  small  arrows  of  malice,  none  carrying 
mortal  wounds,  but  all  keeping  up  a  constant 


THE    VICE-PRESIDENCY.  255 

irritation  of  the  moral  system.  All  this  was 
very  hard  to  bear ;  yet  it  did  not  really  mean 
very  much.  This  was  apparent  when  it  came 
to  the  time  of  the  second  presidential  election, 
when  Adams  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  the 
full  and  fair  support  of  his  party.  He  owed  w 
this,  however,  more  than  he  was  pleased  to  ac 
knowledge,  to  the  aid  of  one  whom  he  did  not 
love.  Hamilton,  propitiated  by  the  uniform 
and  very  valuable  support  accorded  by  him, 
as  vice-president,  to  the  Federal  measures,  now 
favored  his  reelection,  and  the  word  of  Ham 
ilton  was  law.  But,  besides  this,  parties  had 
at  last  become  well-defined.  The  anti-Fed 
eralists  were  agreed  upon  George  Clinton  as 
their  candidate,  and  the  Federalists  were  com 
pelled  to  unite  in  good  earnest.  The  electo 
ral  votes  stood,  for  Adams,  77  ;  for  Clinton,  50. 
He  had  reason  to  be  pleased  ;  yet  he  could  not 
be  wholly  pleased,  since  he  had  to  see  that 
Washington  was  the  choice  of  the  nation,  while 
he  was  only  the  choice  of  a  party.  Moreover, 
in  the  French  revolution  and  the  excitement 
which  it  was  creating  in  the  United  States  he 
scented  coming  scenes  of  trouble.  The  rest 
lessness  of  the  times  was  upon  him  ;  he  longed 
to  take  an  active  part.  "My  country,"  he  said 
with  impatient  vexation,  "has  in  its  wisdom 
contrived  for  me  the  most  insignificant  office 


256  JOHN  ADAMS. 

that  ever  the  invention  of  man  contrived  or  his 
imagination  conceived.  And  as  I  can  do  nei 
ther  good  nor  evil,  I  must  be  borne  away  by 
others,  and  meet  the  common  fate."  To  be 
borne  away  by  others  never  much  comported 
with  the  character  of  John  Adams. 

During  the  troubled  years  of  bis  second  term 
little  is  heard  of  Adams.  The  Federalists  had 
gained  such  a  preponderance  in  the  Senate  that 
he  had  fewer  opportunities  than  before  to  cast 
a  deciding  vote.  Public  attention  was  absorbed 
for  the  time  by  the  men  who  could  influence 
the  course  of  the  United  States  towards  France 
and  England  in  that  epoch  of  hate  and  fury. 
Adams,  in  his  "  insignificant  office,"  enjoying 
comparative  shelter,  saw  with  honest  admira 
tion  the  steadfastness  of  Washington's  character 
amid  extreme  trial,  and  witnessed  with  profound 
sympathy  the  suffering  so  cruelly  inflicted  upon 
the  president  by  the  base  calumnies  of  those 
enemies  who  now  at  last  dared  to  indulge  aloud 
in  low  detraction.  For  a  time  he  felt  a  gener 
ous  appreciation  of  that  sublime  greatness,  and 
forgot  to  make  envious  comparisons. 

Monsieur  Genet,  as  every  one  knows,  came 
to  the  United  States  with  the  definite  purpose 
of  uniting  them  with  France  in  the  struggle 
against  England.  The  one  step  essential  to 
this  end  was  to  make  the  Democratic  party 


Im 

THE    VICE-PRESIDENCY^  W  '  '        257 

dominant  in  the  national  councils,  and  nothing 
seemed  to  be  needed  to  accomplish  this  save  a 
little  discretion  on  the  part  of  the  French  gov 
ernment,  a  little  tact  on  the  part  of  the  min 
ister.  Fortunately,  however,  for  the  young 
country,  discretion  and  tact  were  never  more 
conspicuously  absent.  The  consequence  was 
that  to  France  and  Monsieur  Genet  Mr.  Adams 
owed  a  gratitude,  which  it  must  be  acknowl 
edged  that  he  never  showed,  for  the  continued 
ascendency  of  his  party  and  his  own  accession 
to  the  presidency.  But  the  measure  of  thanks 
which  he  might  be  inclined  to  return  is  not  to 
be  estimated  with  confidence.  For  the  dis 
tinction  came  to  him  in  such  shape  that  it 
brought  at  best  as  much  irritation  as  pleasure  ;  v 
and  again  it  was  the  hand  of  Hamilton  which 
poured  the  bitter  ingredients  into  the  cup. 

When  it  became  necessary  for  the  people  a 
third  time  to  choose  a  president  and  vice-presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  it  seemed  moderately 
certain  that  the  Federalists  would  control  the 
election ;  but  they  had  no  such  reserve  of  su- 
perflous  votes  that  they  could  afford  to  run  any 
risks  or  to  make  any  blunders.  The  first  mat 
ter  to  be  determined  was  the  selection  of  can 
didates.  Hamilton  was  the  leader  of  the  party^ 
inasmuch  as  he  led  the  men  to  whom  the  bulk 
of  the  party  looked  for  guidance.  In  its  upper 

17 


258  JOHN  ADAMS. 

stratum  he  was  obeyed  with  the  loyalty  of 
hero-worship ;  but  he  was  not  popular  enough 
with  the  mass  of  voters  to  be  an  eligible  nomi 
nee.  Eliminating  him,  there  was  no  one  else 
to  compete  with  Adams,  whose  public  services 
had  been  of  the  first  order  both  in  quantity  and 
quality,  who  seemed  officially  to  stand  next  in 
the  order  of  succession,  and  who  was  not  more 
unpopular  than  all  the  prominent  Federalists, 
none  of  whom  had  the  art  of  winning  the  affec 
tion  of  the  multitude.  Adams  accordingly  was 
agreed  upon  as  one  candidate,  and  then  geo 
graphical  wisdom  indicated  that  the  other 
should  be  a  southerner.  The  choice  fell  upon 
Thomas  Pinckney,  an  excellent  gentleman,  of 
the  best  character,  of  high  ability,  and  suffi 
ciently  distinguished  in  the  public  service.  In 
no  department  of  fitness,  however,  could  any 
comparison  be  drawn  between  Adams  and 
Pinckney  which  would  not  show  Adams  to  be 
unquestionably  entitled  to  the  higher  position. 
The  matter  was  not  open  to  a  doubt ;  it  was 
generally  understood  that  Adams  was  the  Fed 
eralist  candidate  for  the  presidency,  and  that 
Pinckney  was  candidate  for  the  vice-presi 
dency.  But  as  the  constitution  yet  stood  the 
electors  could  not  thus  designate  them  in  vot 
ing  ;  and  whoever  should  get  the  highest  num 
ber  of  votes  would  be  president. 


THE    VICE-PRESIDENCY.  259 

Hamilton  saw  in  this  the  opportunity,  through 
nis  personal  influence,  to  give  effect  to  his  per 
sonal  predilection.     He  had  a  deep,  instinctive 
dislike  for  Mr.  Adams  ;   it  was  very  well  for 
him    to    assert   in    self -justification    that   the 
grounds  of   his    prejudice  lay  in  doubts  as  to 
Mr.  Adams's  fitness  for  high  official  position. 
Possibly  he  tried  really  to  believe  this  ;  yet  he 
certainly  did  not  oppose  Mr.  Adams  with  that 
openness    or    by   those    methods  which  would 
have  naturally  resulted  from  a  sense    of   pos 
sessing    strong    and    sound  objections    to  him. 
The  plain  truth  was,  that  as  matter  of  fact  it 
was  sheer  nonsense  to   deny  Adams's   fitness. 
His  disqualification  was    solely  his    unsubmis-^ 
"vfl  JjfllTgraTTlfiTltii      Thftre    wa,a   no   question 
That  Hamilton  was  leader  of  the  party ;  and  if 
it  could  be  fairly  agreed  that  his  leadership  in 
volved  of  necessity  his  right  to  dictate  the  gen 
eral  policy,  then  Adams  was  not  the  man  for 
the  presidency.     But  such  logic  could  not  be 
openly  proclaimed.    Hamilton,  if  he  had  worked 
openly,  must  have    impugned  Adams's  fitness 
on  some  other  ground  than  that  he  would  not 
fall  prone  beneath  Hamiltonian  influence.    Such 
other    grounds    were    not    easy    discoverable  ; 
hence  Hamilton  had  to  work  in  covert  personal 
ways.     By  private  advice  and  letters  he  urged 
strenuously  upon   the    Federalist   electors,  es- 


260  JOHN  ADAMS. 

pecially  those  of  New  England,  to  cast  all  their 
votes  for  Adams  and  Pinckney.  There  was 
much  danger,  he  said,  that  the  deflection  of 
a  very  few  Federalist  votes  from  either  one, 
caused  by  some  local  or  personal  predilection, 
.might  give  the  victory  to  the  Democrats,  who 
were  a  perfectly  united  body.  Every  Federal 
ist  must  vote  for  Adams  and  Pinckney,  and 
not  a  vote  must  be  thrown  away.  The  perfect 
carrying  out  of  this  scheme  would  give  the 
same  number  of  votes  to  both  these  candidates, 
and  practically  would  only  throw  into  a  Feder 
alist  Congress  the  question  of  ranking  them. 
This  was  plausible  arguing,  and  the  figures  of 
the  subsequent  election  seemed  to  corrobo 
rate  it.  When  the  counting  showed  that  Mr. 
Adams  had  only  one  more  vote  than  was  nec- 
•  essary  to  an  election,  and  only  three  more  votes 
than  Mr.  Jefferson,  who  actually  secured  the 
vice-presidency  to  the  exclusion  of  Pinckney, 
it  seemed  that  Hamilton  had  been  very  wise 
in  his  monitions. 

But  the  whole  story  was  not  apparent  in 
these  simple  facts.  From  the  beginning  it  had 
been  almost  certain  that  some  southern  Feder 
alists  would  not  vote  for  Mr.  Adams,  in  order 
that  thus  they  might  give  the  presidency  to 
Pinckney,  provided  they  could  trust  the  New 
Englanders  to  vote  equally  for  both  candidates 


THE    VICE-PRESIDENCY.  261 

It  was  well  understood  that  Hamilton's  influ 
ence  would  not  be  seriously  used  against  a  de 
sign  with  which  he  was  more  than  suspected 
of  sympathizing  ;  and  it  was  apparent  that  his 
advice  to  the  New  Englanders  was  not  alto 
gether  so  ingenuous  as  it  seemed.  Hence  the 
Federalists  went  into  the  colleges  in  the  worst 
possible  condition  of  mutual  suspicion  and  dis 
trust,  with  divided  purposes,  and  much  too 
deeply  interested  in  secondary  objects.  This 
led  to  the  throwing  away  of  votes.  Some  South 
erners,  who  voted  for  Mr.  Pinckney,  voted  also 
for  Mr.  Jefferson  instead  of  Mr.  Adams,  and 
eighteen  New  Englanders  voted  for  Mr.  Adams 
and  not  for  Mr.  Pinckney.  It  was  highly  im 
probable  that  the  voting  would  have  gone  thus 
had  it  not  been  known  that  Hamilton  was  con 
cerning  himself  in  the  election,  and  that  he  pre 
ferred  Pinckney  to  Adams.  Abstractly  con 
sidered,  his  advice  was  sound,  but  he  well  knew 
that,  if  those,  whom  alone  he  could  hope  to  con 
trol,  should  follow  it,  then  others,  less  subject  to 
him,  would  neglect  it,  and  would  bring  about  a 
result  which  may  fairly  be  called  wrong.  He 
had  in  fact,  though  not  in  form,  done  what  he 
could  to  make  Mr.  Adams  a  third  time  vice- 
president,  when  the  Federalist  party  intended 
to  make  him  president.  Mr.  Adams  did  not 
at  first  understand  all  this.  He  said  that  Ham- 


262  JOHN  ADAMS. 

ilton  and  "  Iris  connections  did  not,  I  believe, 
meditate  by  surprise  to  bring  in  Pinckney.  I 
believe  they  honestly  meant  to  bring  in  me ; 
but  they  were  frightened  into  a  belief  that  I 
should  fail,  and  they  in  their  agony  thought  it 
better  to  bring  in  Pinckney  than  Jefferson.  .  .  . 
I  believe  there  were  no  very  dishonest  intrigues 
in  this  business.  The  zeal  of  some  was  not 
very  ardent  for  me,  but  I  believe  none  opposed 
me."  But  not  many  days  had  elapsed  after 
these  words  were  written  before  the  whole 
truth  was  set  before  Mr.  Adams.  Thereupon 
his  feelings  underwent  a  sudden  and  violent 
change,  and  from  that  time  forth  he  cherished 
towards  Hamilton  a  resentment  and  distrust 
which  under  all  the  circumstances  were  entirely 
natural  and  pardonable.  He  was  a  good  en 
emy,  whole-souled  and  hearty  in  his  hatreds. 
Upon  the  other  side  Hamilton,  generally  not 
so  bitter  and  unforgiving,  indulged  an  excep 
tional  vindictiveness  in  this  quarrel ;  so  that 
this  animosity  speedily  attained  such  intensity 
as  to  become  a  potent,  almost  an  omnipotent  in 
fluence  with  each  of  these  powerful  men,  and 
through  them  bore  powerfully  upon  the  course 
of  national  events  for  many  years  to  come. 

It  was  perhaps  a  little  amusing  to  see  how 
incensed  Mr.  Adams  was,  when  he  discovered 
that  there  had  really  been  a  design  to  deprive 


THE   VICE-PRESIDENCY.  263 

him  of  a  place  which  he  seems  to  have  looked 
upon  much  as  if  it  were  substantially  his  own 
property.  There  is  such  an  opportunity  to  learn 
some  of  his  traits  from  a  naive  passage  in  a  let 
ter  written  by  him  on  March  30, 1797,  to  Henry 
Knox,  that,  though  not  otherwise  valuable,  it 
must  be  quoted.  He  says :  "But  to  see  such 
a  character  as  Jefferson,  and  much  more  such 
an  unknown  being  as  Pinckney,  brought  over 
my  head,  and  trampling  on  the  bellies  of  hun 
dreds  of  other  men  infinitely  his  superiors  in 
talents,  services,  and  reputation,  filled  me  with 
apprehensions  for  the  safety  of  us  all.  It  dem 
onstrated  to  me  that,  if  the  project  succeeded, 
our  constitution  could  not  have  lasted  four* 
years.  We  should  have  been  set  afloat  and 
landed  the  Lord  knows  where.  That  must  be 
a  sordid  people  indeed  —  a  people  destitute  of  a 
sense  of  honor,  equity,  and  character,  that  could 
submit  to  be  governed,  and  see  hundreds  of  its 
most  meritorious  public  men  governed,  by  a 
Pinckney,  under  an  elective  government.  .  .  . 
I  mean  by  this  no  disrespect  to  Mr.  Pinckney. 
I  believe  him  to  be  a  worthy  man.  I  speak 
only  in  comparison  with  others."  Volumes  of 
comment  could  not  tell  more  than  these  sen 
tences.  The  vehemence  and  extravagance  of 
expression,  the  notion  that  his  defeat  would 
have  destroyed  the  national  existence,  the  gross 


264  JOHN  ADAMS. 

depreciation  of  Pinckney  so  soon  as  lie  became 
a  rival,  the  vanity  involved  in  the  tranquil  as 
sumption  that  in  his  own  hands  at  least  the 
great  republic  is  perfectly  and  unquestionably 
safe,  show  Mr.  Adams's  weaknesses  in  strong 
relief.  His  own  utter  unconsciousness,  too,  is 
delightful ;  he  thinks  that  he  is  perfectly  lib 
eral  and  just  when  he  frankly  says  that  Pinck 
ney  is  a  "  worthy  man."  In  fact  Pinckney  was 
very  much  more,  and  the  interests  of  the  people 
have  more  than  once  since  that  day  been  in 
trusted  to  presidents  much  his  inferiors  in  char 
acter  and  ability,  and  have  come  safely  through 
the  jeopardy. 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE  PRESIDENCY. 

ADAMS'S  victory  was  none  the  less  a  victory 
because  it  was  narrow.  Though,  he  had  only 
seventy^one  votes  against  Jefferson's  sixty-eight, 
he_was  president  of  the  United  States.  Vexed 
as  he  was,  hurt  in  his  vanity,  incensed  with 
Hamilton,  yet  his  heart  swelled  with  a  not  ig 
noble  triumph.  If  the  recognition  of  his  long 
public  service  had  not  come  in  precisely  the 
shape  it  should  have  come,  at  least  he  could 
say  to  himself  that  this  imperfection  was  due 
to  the  jealous  antipathy  of  an  individual.  It 
was  Hamilton,  rather  than  his  countrymen,  who 
had  attenuated  his  triumph.  But  the  inaugu 
ral  ceremonies  further  disturbed  his  self-satis 
faction.  Certainly  every  president  may  fairly 
expect  to  be  the  grand  central  point  of  obser 
vation  and  interest  during  the  hours  of  his  own 
inauguration.  It  was  exceptionally  hard  luck 
for  Adams  that  he  undeniably  was  not  so. 
Washington  was  present,  of  course,  and  toward 
him  all  faces  seemed  to  be  turned ;  all  were 


266  JOHN  ADAMS. 

silent,  and  numbers  wept  as  they  gazed  at  the 
great  national  hero  now  leaving  the  public  ser 
vice  ;  when  he  left  the  hall  the  spectators,  ab 
sorbed  only  in  him,  rushed  after  him  in  throngs. 
A  man  less  sensitive  and  egotistical  than  Adams 
might  have  felt  that  he  was  unfortunately  sit 
uated  under  the  peculiar  circumstances.  He 
felt  it  keenly.  He  was  reminded  of  the  "  rep 
resentation  of  a  tragedy  ;  "  he  said  that  he  was 
the  "  unbeloved  one  ;  "  he  was  surprised,  ac 
tually  bewildered,  at  the  distance  which  he  saw 
that  the  people  had  established  between  him 
self  and  Washington.  No  one  would  furnish 
him  any  other  solution  of  the  "  enigma  "  of  the 
"  streaming  eyes,"  he  said,  and  so  he  had  per 
force  to  suppose  that  it  was  "  all  grief  for  the 
loss  of  their  beloved."  If  all  this  had  been  de 
signed  by  a  thoughtful  Providence  as  moral 
discipline  for  an  excessively  vain  man,  it  could 
be  objected  to  solely  on  the  ground  that  the 
victim  was  no  longer  young  enough  to  be  sus 
ceptible  of  improvement ;  so  the  only  effect  on 
Mr.  Adams  was  to  exasperate  and  embitter 
him. 

In  this  condition  of  things  the  Democrats 
made  an  effort  to  capture  Mr.  Adams.  They 
took  good  care  to  let  him  know  all  that  had 
been  done  against  him.  Pickering,  they  said, 
in  his  official  reports  had  maliciously  kept  in 


THE  PRESIDENCY.  267 

the  background  his  services  in  connection  with 
the  treaty  of  1783 ;  Hamilton  and  Jay  had 
meant  to  keep  him  only  a  vice-president,  be 
cause,  fortunately,  he  was  not  the  man  to  ap 
pear  only  as  the  head  of  a  party,  and  to  be  led 
by  Hamilton.  Jefferson  wrote  a  letter  to  him, 
rejoicing  that  he  had  not  been  "  cheated  out  of 
his  succession  by  a  trick  worthy  the  subtlety  of 
his  arch-friend  of  New  York,  who  had  been 
able  to  make  of  his  real  friends  tools  for  defeat 
ing  their  and  his  just  wishes."  This  letter  was 
indeed  never  delivered  to  Mr.  Adams  ;  for  Jef 
ferson  sent  it  open  to  Madison  with  instruc 
tions  to  deliver  it  or  not,  as  he  should  see  fit, 
and,  for  some  reasons  not  known,  Madison  did 
not  see  fit.  But  it  explained  Jefferson's  plans. 
In  the  letter  to  Madison  he  said :  "  If  Mr. 
Adams  could  be  induced  to  administer  the  gov 
ernment  on  its  true  principles,  quitting  his  bias 
for  an  English  constitution,  it  would  be  worthy 
of  consideration  whether  it  would  not  be  for  the 
public  good  to  come  to  a  good  understanding 
with  him  as  to  his  future  elections."  In  pursu 
ance  of  the  same  policy  the  vice-president,  on 
arriving  in  Philadelphia,  promptly  called  upon 
Adams,  and  also  paid  him  a  handsome  compli 
ment  upon  taking  the  chair  of  the  senate,  and 
was  cordially  zealous  to  establish  a  friendly 
relationship.  Mrs.  Adams,  triumphing  in  the 


268  JOHN  ADAMS. 

defeat  of  Hamilton's  "  Machiavelian  policy,"  ex 
pressed  pleasure  at  Jefferson's  success,  between 
whom  and  her  husband,  she  said,  there  had 
never  been  "  any  public  or  private  animosity." 
Hamilton  had  made  a  mistake,  great  enough  in 
its  real  outcome,  but  which  might  have  borne 
such  fruits  as  would  have  seemed  to  him  noth 
ing  less  than  fatal,  had  they  occurred.  With 
many  men  the  anticipations  of  Jefferson  and 
the  Democrats  would  have  proved  well-founded. 
But  it  was  not  so  with  Adams ;  no  one  by  any 
subtlety  or  under  any  cover  could  introduce  a 
policy  into  his  brain.  He  had  his  own  ideas, 
and  did  his  own  thinking.  Neither  through  his 
wounded  self-love,  nor  his  hot  resentment,  could 
he  be  beguiled  by  Jefferson  into  the  ranks  of 
Democracy.  For  good  or  for  ill  he  had  no 
master,  open  or  unsuspected,  either  in  Hamil 
ton  or  in  Jefferson.  No  writer  has  ever  denied 
that  he  was  at  least  an  independent  president. 

To  sketch  the  administration  of  John  Adams 
with  correct  lines  and  in  truthful  colors  is  a 
task  of  extreme  difficulty.  The  general  effect 
of  an  accurate  picture  must  be  singularly  pain 
ful  and  depressing,  it  must  show  us  great  men 
appearing  small,  true  patriots  forgetting  their 
country  in  anxiety  for  their  party,  honest  men 
made  purblind  by  prejudice,  and  straying  per 
ilously  near  the  line  of  dishonor.  The  story  of 


THE  PRESIDENCY.  269 

these  four  years,  though  in  them  the  national 
emergency  was  of  the  gravest,  is  largely  a  tale 
of  the  most  bitter  feud  in  American  history. 
Even  the  one  great  act  of  patriotism  which  Mr. 
Adams  performed  stands  like  a  lighthouse  be- 
dimmed  in  a  dense  distorting  fog  of  odious 
personal  considerations.  The  quarrel  between 
him  and  Hamilton  constitutes  a  chapter  which 
one  who  admires  either  of  them  would  like  to 
omit.  Each  has  to  stand  on  the  defensive,  and 
the  defense  is  not  easy  to  be  made.  It  was  a 
wretched  affair  in  which  heroes  became  petty, 
and  noble  men  ceased  to  inspire  respect.  The 
student  finds  the  political  literature  of  the 
period  to  be  a  mass  of  crimination  and  recrimi 
nation  ;  amid  such  acrimony  it  is  not  easy  for 
him  to  hold  himself  uncontaminated  by  the 
temper  of  the  combatants  ;  nor  can  he  think  it 
pleasant  to  have  as  his  chief  duty  the  allotment 
of  censure  among  men  at  all  other  times  praise 
worthy.  We  have  to  show  Adams  pursuing  a 
course  substantially  of  sound  statesmanship, 
but,  through  hot-headedness,  pugnacity,  an  ego 
tism  almost  criminal  in  a  republic,  and  a  lack 
of  tact  great  enough  to  be  accounted  a  sin, 
stumbling  perpetually  and  hurting  himself 
sorely  upon  many  obstacles  which  he  ought  to 
have  avoided,  until  finally  he  emerges  from  his 
stony  path  doing  the  smallest  and  most  foolish 


270  JOHN  ADAMS. 

act  into  which  a  magnanimous  man  was  ever 
betrayed ;  we  have  to  show  Hamilton  following 
an  object  of  personal  ambition  by  unworthy 
machinations,  allowing  his  former  prejudice 
against  Mr.  Adams  to  become  degraded  into  a 
fierce  personal  resentment,  and  in  pursuance 
thereof  losing  sight  of  patriotism  in  the  effort 
to  destroy  his  enemy  by  methods  so  mean  and 
so  unwise  that  we  cannot  read  of  them  without 
a  sense  of  humiliation,  which  he  unfortunately 
never  felt.  Neither  is  it  pleasant  to  see  the 
lesser  reputation  of  Pickering,  that  brave,  faith 
ful  and  upright  Puritan,  and  the  good  name  of 
Wolcott,  who  always  meant  to  be  an  honest 
man,  smirched  with  the  blemish  of  unfairness. 
Such  animosities  live  forever,  even  sometimes 
gaining  increased  bitterness  from  the  loyalty  of 
the  descendants  of  the  original  combatants. 
Thus  it  has  been  with  these  quarrels ;  the  story 
has  been  told  many  times,  never  with  an  ap 
proach  towards  impartiality,  till  it  requires  no 
small  courage  to  tread  again  upon  the  "  dark 
and  bloody  ground." 

The  wars  between  England  and  France,  be 
tween  monarchism  and  democracy  or  Jacobin 
ism,  or  whatever  the  political  principle  of  the 
French  revolutionists  is  to  be  called,  were 
fought  over  again  in  the  United  States,  with 
less  of  bloodshed  indeed,  but  not  with  less  of 


THE  PRESIDENCY.  271 

rancor  than  distinguished  the  real  contest. 
Each  party  in  the  country  averred  that  it 
wished  to  keep  out  of  the  fight,  and  that  its 
opponents  wished  to  plunge  into  it.  England 
and  France,  alike  devoid  of  fear  or  respect  for 
the  United  States,  were  equally  resolved,  in  de 
fault  of  securing  her  as  an  ally,  at  least  to  get 
the  utmost  plunder  out  of  her.  England  smote 
her  upon  one  cheek  with  Orders  in  Council, 
France  buffeted  her  upon  the  other  with  de 
crees  launched  from  Berlin  and  Milan,  the  con 
quered  capitals  of  prostrate  Europe.  England 
impressed  her  seamen,  France  shut  up  her  ships 
and  confiscated  her  merchandise.  Jefferson 
berated  England,  Hamilton  reviled  France. 
There  were  abundant  reasons  for  the  United 
States  to  declare  war  against  each  of  them; 
but  there  was  also  a  controlling  reason  against 
any  war  at  all,  a  reason  which  none  expressed, 
but  to  which  all  submitted  ;  so  that  the  wrath 
was  pretty  sure  to  vent  itself  only  in  words, 
unless  the  angry  partisans  should  lose  command 
of  themselves,  and  get  carried  farther  than  they 
intended.  In  a  most  uncomfortable  position 
between  the  two  factions  stood  Mr.  Adams,  on 
the  whole  the  safest  statesman  in  the  country 
to  hold  the  helm  in  this  crisis.  His  tempera 
ment  was  that  of  the  English  race  from  which 
he  was  descended,  and  which  can  never  sin- 


272  JOHN  ADAMS. 

cerely  and  permanently  appreciate  or  sympa 
thize  with  the  French  temperament ;  moreover, 
he  had  long  since  made  up  his  mind  that  the 
theory  of  the  states  owing  any  gratitude  to 
France  was  little  better  than  sheer  nonsense. 
But  when  the  Federalists  counted  upon  these 
influences  to  keep  him  in  the  so-called  Angli 
can  wing  of  their  party,  they  forgot  that  hostil 
ity  to  England  had  struck  deep  root  in  his  mind 
through  youth  and  middle  age ;  they  forgot  that 
he  had  been  neglected  and  insulted  for  three 
years  in  London,  and  that  he  had  there  ac 
quired  full  knowledge  of  the  deliberate  design 
of  England  to  crush  and  ruin  her  ex-colonies. 
So  with  about  equal  prejudices  against  each 
combatant,  Mr.  Adams  was  undoubtedly  the 
most  even-minded  man  then  in  public  life  in 
the  states,  tfis  eye  was  single  in  fact  not  less 
than  in  intention  ;  he  not  only  fancied  himself, 
as  all  the  rest  fancied  themselves,  but  he  really 
was,  which  the  rest  were  not,  unbiased,  devoid 
of  friendship  and  trust  towards  each  country 
alike.  Caring  exclusively  for  the  United  States, 
as  he  had  so  boldly  stated  to  King  George,  he 
had  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  the  best  policy 
for  them  was  to  keep  out  of  the  war.  From 
the  first  days  of  the  Revolutionary  Congress  he 
had  always  dreaded  European  alliances ;  he  saw 
no  reason  now  for  changing  the  settled  opinion 


THE  PRESIDENCY.  273 

which  he  had  held  for  upwards  of  twenty  years. 
War  with  either  meant,  of  course,  alliance  with 
the  other,  and  general  entanglement  in  the  for 
eign  snarl.  The  resolution  to  keep  the  peace,  if 
possible,  is  the  key  to  his  policy  throughout  his 
four  years.  Even  Jefferson  said  of  him :  "  I 
do  not  believe  Mr.  Adams  wishes  war  with 

v .  .  /H 

France,  nor  do  I  believe  he  will  truckle  to  Eng 
land  as  servilely  as  has  been  done."  Mr.  Hil- 
dreth,  also,  who  loves  him  not,  says  that  his 
"  opinions  and  feelings  were  precisely  such  as 
to  free  him  from  all  possibility  of  foreign  in 
fluence,  and  to  fit  him  for  carrying  out  with 
energy  and  impartiality  the  system  of  exact 
neutrality  which  Washington  had  adopted." 
These  estimates  of  his  character  and  senti 
ments,  from  unfriendly  quarters,  were  perfectly 
correct. 

But  the  grave  and  very  doubtful  question 
was,  whether  it  would  be  possible  to  keep  the 
peace.  Just  at  the  time  of  Adams's  acces 
sion  France  seemed  to  be  reaching  the  point 
of  outrage  at  which  the  most  helpless  or  the 
most  pusillanimous  nation  must  strike  back. 
Her  villainous  stealings  had  been  supplemented 
by  even  more  exasperating  insults.  The  rela 
tionship  of  the  two  countries  was  briefly  this : 
Gouverneur  Morris,  while  minister  at  Paris, 
had  manifested  so  active  an  antipathy  to  the 

18 


274  JOHN  ADAMS. 

revolution,  that  the  success  of  that  movement 
made  it  necessary  to  recall  him.  To  cure  the 
feelings  which  he  had  wounded,  Mr.  Monroe, 
of  quite  an  opposite  way  of  thinking,  was  sent 
to  supersede  him.  But  Monroe  was  carried 
away  by  the  Jacobinical  excitement  into  be 
havior  so  extravagantly  foolish  as  seriously  to 
compromise  the  national  interests.  He  was 
called  home,  and  General  C.  C.  Pinckney,  a 
moderate  Federalist,  was  sent  as  his  successor. 
Thus  matters  stood,  so  far  as  was  known  in  the 
states,  when  Adams  came  to  the  presidency. 
But  embarrassing  news  soon  arrived.  The 
French  directory,  at  parting  with  Monroe,  had 
given  him  a  grand  ovation  which,  under  the 
circumstances,  was  an  intolerable  insult  to  the 
United  States ;  and  furthermore  the  same  reck 
less  body  had  refused  to  receive  Mr.  Pinckney 
or  to  permit  him  to  remain  in  France,  even 
threatening  him  with  police  interference.  A 
difficult  problem  was  already  before  the  new 
president. 

Mr.  Adams's  natural  advisers  were  the  mem 
bers  of  his  cabinet.  His  relations  with  this 
body,  soon  to  become  so  peculiar  and  unfortu 
nate,  were  at  first  nearly  normal  and  amicable. 
He  had  retained  Washington's  secretaries,  Pick 
ering  in  the  state  department,  Wolcott  in  the 
treasury,  and  McHenry  in  the  war  department. 


THE  PRESIDENCY.  275 

The  first  two  were  of  sufficient  ability  for  their 
positions  ;  McHenry  was  of  a  lower  grade  ;  but 
it  was  then  so  rare  to  find  men  at  once  fit  for 
high  public  positions  and  willing  to  fill  them, 
and  Washington  had  encountered  so  much  diffi 
culty  in  reconstructing  his  cabinet,  that  Adams 
very  justly  conceived   it   imprudent   to  make 
changes.     Nor  indeed  was  it  through  lack  of 
ability  that  his  ministers  gave  him  trouble,  but 
through  lack  of  sympathy  with  himself  and  his 
policy,  and  later  through  want  of  openness  and 
frankness  in  dealing  with  him.     Under  Wash 
ington's  administration   these   gentlemen   had 
felt  themselves  on  a  different  plane  from  that 
of  the  President,  who  stood  far  above  any  per 
sonal  competition  or  jealousy.     Hamilton  had 
been  Washington's  most  trusted  adviser,  and 
had, — properly  enough  under  the  peculiar  cir 
cumstances,  —  constantly   communicated   with 
and   influenced   Washington's    cabinet.     Thus 
there  had  grown  up  a  little  oligarchy,  or  clique, 
consisting  of  one  statesman  and   three  politi 
cians,  his  subordinates,  who  had  arranged  and 
controlled  the  policy  of  the  Federal  party  suc 
cessfully  and   agreeably    enough   beneath   the 
shelter  of  Washington's  prestige,  and  subject 
always  in  the  last  resort  to  his  sound  and  su 
preme  judgment.     Adams  had  never  been  one 
of  this  clique,  he  had  not  even  been  regarded 


276  JOHN  ADAMS. 

with  any  cordiality  by  its  chief.  The  pleasant- 
est  phase  of  the  relationship  between  Hamilton 
and  himself,  up  to  this  time,  had  been  little 
better  than  negative,  when  at  the  time  of  his 
second  candidacy  for  the  vice-presidency  Ham 
ilton  had  accepted  him  as  the  least  ineligible 
among  possibilities,  and  had  spoken  moderately 
in  his  praise.  But  now  that  he  was  president, 
it  was  a  serious  question  whether  the  previous 
comfortable  arrangement  could  be  continued. 
Would  he  make  one  of  the  little  governing 
brotherhood?  There  was  a  fundamental  con 
dition  precedent:  he  could  come  into  it  only 
as  practically  subordinate  to  Hamilton,  though 
he  might  be  spared  the  humiliation  of  an 
avowal  or  direct  recognition  of  this  fact.  An 
instinct  told  all  concerned  that  he  was  not  the 
man  for  this  position.  But  the  fatal  scission 
opened  slowly.  At  the  outset  the  ministers 
were  only  curious  and  anxious,  not  devoid  of 
hope  that  a  little  dexterous  management  might 
make  all  go  according  to  their  wishes,  while 
Mr.  Adams  had  no  idea,  or  at  least  no  knowl 
edge,  that  his  relationship  with  them  was 
marked  by  any  exceptional  character  or  any  se 
cret  peculiarities  unknown  to  himself.  Shortly 
before  his  inauguration  he  had  written  to 
Gerry :  "  Pickering  and  all  his  colleagues  are 
as  much  attached  to  me  as  I  desire.  I  have  no 


THE  PRESIDENCY.  277 

jealousies  from  that  quarter."  It  was  very 
slowly  that  he  at  last  acquired  a  different 
opinion. 

At  the  time  of  Adams's  inauguration  rumors 
had  come  that  Pinckney  had  not  been  received. 
The  idea  of  a  new  and  more  impressive  mission 
at  once  occurred  to  many  persons.  On  March  3 
Adams  himself  called  on  Jefferson  and  broached 
the  topic.  He  would  have  liked  to  nominate 
the  vice-president ;  but  both  had  to  agree  that 
it  would  not  do  for  that  officer  to  accept  such 
a  post.  Nor  could  Jefferson  willingly  abandon 
the  direction  of  his  party  at  this  juncture. 
Then  Mr.  Adams  asked  whether  Madison  would 
go  in  conjunction  with  some  prominent  Feder 
alist.  Jefferson  thought  that  he  would  not, 
but  said  that  he  would  ask  his  friend.  Two 
days  later  Fisher  Ames,  a  thorough-going  Ham- 
iltonian,  called  on  the  president,  advised  a  new 
mission,  and  even  suggested  names.  Soon  the 
rumors  concerning  Pinckney  were  corroborated. 
Thereupon  Adams  at  once  summoned  an  extra 
session  oi  Congress  for  May  15.  He  heard  from 
Jefferson  that  Madison  would  not  go  to  France, 
but  he  did  not  therefore  abandon  his  original 
plan  of  a  composite  mission.  He  opened  the 
scheme  to  Wolcott,  but  got  no  assistance  from 
him.  Wolcott,  an  extreme  "  Anglicist,"  only 
fell  in  with  the  notion  slowly  and  reluctantly, 


278  JOHN  ADAMS. 

and  under  the  influence  subsequently  exerted 
by  Hamilton.  Perhaps  it  was  fortunate  for 
the  success  of  the  president's  plan  that  for  once 
he  and  Hamilton  took  the  same  view  of  the 
necessities  of  the  situation. 

So  soon  as  the  news  of  the  election  of  Adams 
reached  Paris,  the  directory,  greatly  incensed 
that  Jefferson  had  not  been  chosen,  issued  a  de 
cree  more  oppressive  than  any  which  had  pre 
ceded  against  the  American  commercial  marine. 
This  was  heard  of  in  the  United  States  before 
Congress  assembled,  and  aggravated  the  indig 
nation  of  the  Federalists.  The  speech  of  Mr. 
Adams  at  the  opening  of  the  extra  session,  in 
the  composition  of  which  he  had  been  aided  by 
his  secretaries,  was  admirable  ;  it  was  dignified, 
spirited,  and  temperate.  "  The  refusal  on  the 
part  of  France  to  receive  our  minister,"  he  said, 
u  is  the  denial  of  a  right ;  but  their  refusal  to 
receive  him  until  we  have  acceded  to  their  de 
mands  without  discussion  and  without  investi 
gation,  is  to  treat  us  neither  as  allies,  nor  as 
friends,  nor  as  a  sovereign  state."  The  "  stu 
dious  indignity  "  at  the  leave-taking  of  Monroe 
he  adverted  to  in  language  of  natural  resent 
ment.  Yet,  he  said,  having  the  sincere  desire 
to  preserve  peace  with  all  nations,  "  and  believ 
ing  that  neither  the  honor  nor  the  interest  of 
the  United  States  absolutely  forbids  the  repe- 


THE  PRESIDENCY,  279 

tition  of  advances  for  securing  these  desirable 
objects  with  France,  I  shall  institute  a  fresh 
attempt  at  negotiation."  Nevertheless  "  the 
depredations  on  our  commerce,  the  personal  in 
juries  to  our  citizens,  and  the  general  complex 
ion  of  affairs  render  it  my  indispensable  duty 
to  recommend  to  your  consideration  effectual 
measures  of  defense."  He  suggested  an_ in 
crease  of  the  regular  artillery  and  cavalry, 
possibly  also  "  arrangements  for  forming  a  pro- 
vfsional  army."  Above  all  he  dwelt  with  es 
pecial  emphasis  upon  the  need  of  a  navy  suffi 
ciently  powerful  to  protect  the  coast  thoroughly. 
This  was  a  favorite  measure  with  him,  which 
he  constantly  urged.  He  believed  that  the 
United  States  easily  could  be,  and  certainly 
ought  to  be,  a  great  naval  power ;  unquestion 
ably  he  thought  that  they  should  have  ample 
means  of  naval  defense.  He  had  wrought  ear 
nestly  in  the  same  matter  in  the  Revolutionary 
war.  He  now  reiterated  this  advice  with  all 
the  zeal  and  persistency  in  his  power,  and  ac 
tually  did  as  much  as  his  authority  permitted. 
In  one  of  his  letters  to  James  Lloyd,  in  1815,  he 
said  that  during  the  four  years  of  his  presidency 
he  "  hesitated  at  no  expense  to  purchase  navy 
yards,  to  collect  timber,  to  build  ships,  and 
spared  no  pains  to  select  officers."  But  his 
only  reward  was  extreme  unpopularity,  even  in 


280  JOHN  ADAMS. 

the  seaport  towns  of  New  England,  with  a  re 
newal  of  the  old  talk  about  his  desire  "  to  intro 
duce  monarchy  and  aristocracy.''  He  at  least 
cannot  be  blamed  that  the  American  navy 
never  was  developed  as  it  should  have  been,  and 
was  left  to  win  its  triumphs  many  years  later 
in  spite  of  utter  neglect  and  discouragement. 

The  new  mission  was  determined  upon,  but 
its  composition  was  not  easy  to  arrange.  If 
Madison  would  have  served,  Mr.  Adams  would 
have  nominated  Hamilton  as  his  colleague ;  at 
least  he  afterwards  said  that  this  was  his  pur 
pose.  Apparently  he  was  desirous  of  clinging 
to  the  policy,  which  Washington  had  tried  with 
imperfect  success,  of  using  the  best  men  in  both 
parties.  But  when  Madison  would  not  go,  all 
thought  of  Hamilton  vanished.  Mr.  Adams 
then  suggested  General  Pinckney,  John  Mar 
shall,  and  Elbridge  Gerry.  Pinckney  and  Mar 
shall  were  Federalists ;  Gerry  had  generally 
been  allied  with  the  opposite  party ;  he  had  op 
posed  the  Federal  constitution,  and  had  ever 
since  been  regarded  as  an  anti-Federalist ;  lately 
indeed,  as  a  presidential  elector,  he  ty^d  voted 
for  John  Adams,  but  he  had  been  influenced  by 
an  old  friendship,  and  had  written  to  Jefferson 
a  letter  of  explanation  and  apology.  Adams 
had  a  strong  personal  regard  for  him,  and  doubt 
less  now  sought  to  do  him  a  kind  turr^,  though 


THE  PRESIDENCY.  281 

in  the  end  the  favor  proved  rather  to  be  laden 
with  misfortune.  The  selection  now  aroused 
warm  opposition  on  the  part  of  secretaries 
Pickering  and  Wolcott.  These  gentlemen, 
equally  unlike  the  president,  whom  they  dis 
liked,  and  Hamilton,  whom  they  revered,  were 
not  statesmen  ;  that  is  to  say,  they  could  not 
upon  occasion  subordinate  the  wishes  and  prej 
udices,  the  likings  and  dislikings,  which  were 
items  in  the  creed  of  their  party,  to  a  wise  and 
broad  view  of  national  policy.  They  could  not 
now  see  that  the  president's  "  piebald  commis 
sion  "  was  a  sound  measure.  After  they  had 
yielded  with  reluctance  to  Hamilton's  approval 
of  any  commission  at  all,  they  fell  back  upon 
the  position  that  at  least  it  should  be  composed 
wholly  of  Federalists.  They  were  submissive  to 
their  private  leader,  but  not  to  their  president. 
Therefore  they  strenuously  objected  to  Gerry. 
Adams  deferred  to  them  with  unusual  amiabil 
ity,  gave  up  his  own  choice,  and  named  Fran 
cis  Dana,  chief  justice  of  Massachusetts.  But 
Dana  declined,  and  then  the  president  returned 
decisively  to  Gerry.  The  senate  confirmed  the 
nominations,  and  in  midsummer,  1797,  the  two 
envoys,  Marshall  and  Gerry,  sailed  in  different 
vessels  to  join  Mr.  Pinckney. 

The  three  met  in  Paris  early  in  October  of 
the  same  year  and  notified  M.  Talleyrand,  then 


282  JOHN  ADAMS. 

foreign  minister,  of  their  readiness  to  deliver 
their  credentials.  What  ensued  is  notorious 
and  may  be  told  briefly.  A  few  days  of  civ 
ility  were  succeeded  by  sudden  coldness  and  a 
complete  check  in  the  advancement  of  busi 
ness.  Then  came  the  famous  and  infamous 
proposal,  that  the  envoys  should  agree  to  pay 
large  bribes  to  Talleyrand  and  to  certain  mem 
bers  of  the  directory.  They  rejected  this  pro 
posal  with  disdain.  Thereupon,  in  January, 
1798,  a  new  decree  was  issued  against  Ameri 
can  commerce.  The  envoys  drew  up  a  very 
spirited  remonstrance  against  it,  which  how 
ever  Gerry  was  not  willing  to  sign.  Finally, 
after  some  delay,  Marshall  got  his  passports  on 
April  16,  and  Pinckney,  after  experiencing 
much  discourtesy,  was  permitted  to  stay  for  a 
time  in  the  south  of  France  with  his  daughter, 
who  was  very  ill.  Gerry  was  persuaded  by 
Talleyrand  to  remain.  He  was  expected  to 
prove  more  compliant  than  the  others,  and 
might  yet  be  made  use  of  as  a  conduit  to  intro 
duce  French  schemes  into  American  minds. 

In  October,  1797,  Adams  expressed  his  fear 
that  little  immediate  advantage  could  be  ex 
pected  from  this  embassy,  unless  it  should  be 
"  quickened  by  an  embargo."  On  January  24, 
1798,  he  propounded  sundry  queries  to  the 
heads  of  departments.  He  had  already  fore- 


THE  PRESIDENCY.  283 

seen  as  among  the  possibilities  precisely  what 
occurred,  viz:  the  failure  of  the  mission,  and 
the  departure  from  Paris  of  two  envoys  while 
the  third  remained  abroad.  In  this  case,  he 
asked,  what  new  recommendations  should  be 
made  ?  Should  a  declaration  of  war  be  advised 
or  suggested?  Should  an  embargo  be  recom 
mended?  The  reply  of  McHenry  is  supposed 
by  Mr.  C.  F.  Adams,  with  probable  correct 
ness,  to  embody  the  views  of  Hamilton,  Picker 
ing,  and  Wolcott.  It  proposed  that  merchant; 
vessels  should  be  allowed  to  arm  themselves^  ( 
that  the  treaties  with  France  should  be  sus 
pended,  that  the  navy  should  be  increased,  that^( 
16,000  men  should  be  raised  for  the  army,  with 
a  contingent  increase  of  20,000  more.  In  his 
questions  the  president  had  asked  what  should 
be  done  as  regarded  England;  "will  it  not," 
he  said,  showing  by  the  form  of  his  query  his 
own  opinion,  "  be  best  to  remain  silent,  to  await 
overtures  from  her,  to  avoid  a  connection  with 
her,  which  might  subsequently  become  embar 
rassing?"  Pickering  would  have  preferred  a 
close  alliance  with  her,  but  failed  in  his  attempt 
to  secure  Hamilton's  approval  of  the  plan,  and 
therefore  abandoned  it. 

Early  in  March  the  news  came  which  Mr. 
Adams  had  feared,  and  to  some  extent  had  pre 
pared  for.  On  March  5  the  president  commu- 


284  JOHN  ADAMS. 

nicated  to  Congress  a  dispatch  announcing  the 
failure  of  the  mission ;  and  a  few  days  later, 
having  deciphered  the  accompanying  dis 
patches,  he  sent  a  supplementary  message,  say 
ing  that  all  hope  of  accommodation  was  for  the 
present  at  an  end.  He  therefore  advised  contin 
uance  in  the  preparations  for  a  war  which, 
though  he  did  not  advise  declaring  it,  must  yet 
be  regarded  as  not  unlikely  to  ensue.  Many 
lukewarm  Democrats,  disappointed  and  irritated 
by  the  persistent  insolence  of  the  directory, 
now  abandoned  their  political  allegiance  ;  but 
the  main  body  of  the  party,  reposing  a  wise 
and  perfect  trust  in  Jefferson,  that  most 
shrewd,  patient,  politic,  and  constant  of  lead 
ers,  remained  unshaken  in  their  sentiments. 
Whether  the  price  of  friendship  with  France 
were  greater  or  less,  they  thought  that  it  should 
be  paid  and  the  inestimable  purchase  com 
pleted.  One  of  their  number  introduced  into 
the  house  of  representatives  a  resolution  that 
it  was  inexpedient  to  resort  to  war  with  France. 
The  Federalists  of  all  shades  of  opinion  united 
in  opposition  to  this.  A  fierce  and  prolonged 
debate  ensued,  of  which  the  issue  was  very 
doubtful,  when  it  was  suddenly  cut  short  by  a 
motion  from  the  Federalist  side,  made,  as  it  was 
understood,  at  the  instigation  of  Hamilton,  call 
ing  on  the  president  for  full  copies  of  all  the 


THE  PRESIDENCY.  285 

dispatches.  This  was  carried,  of  course ;  and 
the  president,  well  pleased  with  the  demand,  at 
once  sent  in  the  documents,  complete  in  every 
respect  save  that  he  had  substituted  the  letters 
W.  X.  Y.  and  Z.  for  the  names  of  the  emissa 
ries  engaged  in  the  attempt  to  arrange  the 
bribes  for  Talleyrand  and  the  directory. 
Otherwise  the  whole  story  of  that  infamy  was 
spread  out  before  Congress  and  the  country, 
without  coloring  or  curtailment. 

Amazement  and  wrath  burst  forth  on  every 
side.  A  great  wave  of  indignation  against  the 
venal  government,  which  had  offered  itself  for 
sale  like  a  drove  of  bullocks,  swept  over  the 
land,  submerging  all  but  the  most  strong-limbed 
Democrats.  These  sturdy  partisans,  struggling 
in  the  swirl,  confused,  enraged,  cried  out  half  in 
anger,  half  in  despair,  for  time,  only  a  little  time 
to  breathe,  to  rally,  to  reflect.  If  for  a  brief  while 
the  country  could  be  held  back  from  actually 
committing  itself  to  hostilities,  Jefferson  fore 
saw  that  the  storm  would  subside.  Then  mul 
titudes  of  his  scared  followers  would  drift  back 
again  and  would  adopt  his  theory,  condemn 
ing  Talleyrand  personally  but  thinking  no  ill  of 
the  great  French  nation.  The  respite,  however, 
was  uncertain ;  the  times  were  critical.  Every 
where  the  black  cockade  of  the  anti-Federalists 
appeared  in  the  streets,  provocative  of  fights, 


286  JOHN  ADAMS. 

even  of  mobs.  Crowds  sang  lustily  the  new 
patriotic  ditty  of  "  Hail  Columbia."  Wherever 
two  or  three  persons  were  gathered  together 
under  any  name  or  for  any  purpose,  from  state 
legislatures  down  to  boys  in  college,  they  drew 
up  an  address,  full  of  patriotism  and  encourage 
ment,  and  sent  it  to  Mr.  Adams.  Never  was  a 
president  so  deafened  with  declarations  of  loy 
alty  and  support.  He  composed  answers  to 
them  all,  and  was  doubtless  glad  to  get  them, 
though  sometimes  tempted  to  think  that  the 
pens  of  his  well-wishers  were  a  trifle  over  nu 
merous.  Fortunately,  amid  all  the  turmoil  and 
excitement  he  kept  his  power  of  cool  reflection 
fairly  well.  He  recognized  the  facts  not  only 
that  war  would  be  a  national  misfortune,  but 
that  in  the  present  stage  of  the  quarrel  there 
was  no  sufficiently  powerful  war  party  to  jus 
tify  declaring  it,  the  body  of  persons  who  really 
wished  for  a  war  and  who  could  be  counted 
upon  long  to  remain  of  that  mind  being,  in 
spite  of  appearances,  not  large.  He  said  this 
many  years  afterwards,  and  undoubtedly  he 
judged  correctly.  He  made  only  one  mistake, 
and  that  ultimately  embarrassed  only  himself. 
In  the  middle  of  June,  1798,  Marshall  arrived 
at  home,  bringing  with  him  the  latest  news  and 
many  details.  The  president  at  once  recalled 
poor  Gerry,  now  overwhelmed  with  abuse  and 


THE  PRESIDENCY.  287 

unpopularity,  and  sent  a  message  to  Congress 
communicating  that  fact,  together  with  all  that 
Marshall  had  brought  to  his  knowledge.  He 
concluded  with  the  famous  and  unfortunate 
sentence,  "  I  will  never  send  another  minister 
to  France  without  assurances  that  he  will  be 
received,  respected,  and  honored,  as  the  repre 
sentative  of  a  great,  free,  independent,  and 
powerful  nation."  This  bit  of  foolish  and 
superfluous  rodomontade,  characteristically  es 
caping  from  the  too  ready  lips  of  Mr.  Adams, 
aftenvard  caused  him  some  annoyance.  It  can 
only  be  said  that  he  was  not  singular  in  over 
leaping  the  limits  of  strict  discretion  in  those 
wild  days,  when  indeed  there  was  no  man  con 
cerned  in  public  affairs  who  did  not  give  his  de 
tractors  some  fair  opportunity  for  severe  criti 
cism,  if  he  were  judged  according  to  the  cold  ?^ 
standard  of  perfect  wisdom. 

The  two  grand  blunders  of  the  Federal  party 
were  committed  in  these  same  moments  of  heat 
and  blindness ;  these  were  the  famous  Alien 
and  Sedition  Acts.  No  one  has  ever  been  "able  ^ 
heartily  or  successfully  to  defend  these  foolish 
outbursts  of  ill-considered  legislation,  which 
have  to  be  abandoned,  by  tacit  general  consent, 
to  condemnation.  Every  biographer  has  en 
deavored  to  clear  the  fame  of  his  own  hero 
from  any  complicity  in  the  sorry  business,  un- 


288  JOHN  ADAMS. 

til  it  has  come  to  pass  that,  if  all  the  evidence 
that  has  been  adduced  can  be  believed,  these 
statutes  were  foundlings,  veritable  filii  nullius, 
for  whom  no  man  was  responsible.  But  Mr. 
Adams,  it  must  be  acknowledged,  did  riot  stran 
gle  these  children  of  folly  ;  on  the  contrary  he 
set  his  signature  upon  them ;  a  little  later  he 
even  expressed  a  "  fear  "  that  the  Alien  act 
would  not  "upon  trial  be  found  adequate  to 
the  object  intended ; "  and  many  years  after 
ward,  by  which  time  certainly  he  ought  to  have 
been  wiser,  he  declared,  without  repentance, 
that  he  had  believed  them  to  be  "  constitutional 
and  salutary,  if  not  necessary." 

But  this  summer  and  autumn  of  1798  were 
signalized  by  a  matter  much  more  unfortunate 
in  its  consequences  for  Adams  personally  than 
the  rash  utterance  of  an  intention  which  was 
in  itself  perfectly  proper,  or  than  the  signature 
of  some  ill-advised  enactments.  He  was  obliged 
to  nominate  officers  for  the  provisional  army, 
and  in  doing  this  he  unintentionally  and  with 
no  fault  on  his  own  part  stirred  up  much  ill 
feeling  and  resentment.  Washington,  as  lieu 
tenant-general,  was  of  course  to  be  commander- 
in-chief.  Of  this  no  one  questioned  the  propri 
ety  ;  neither  could  fault  be  found  with  the  con 
cessions  by  which  his  acceptance  was  obtained, 
to  wit :  that  he  should  not  be  called  into  active 


THE  PRESIDENCY.  289 

service  until  the  need  should  be  imperative,  and 
that  he  should  be  permitted  to  select  the  gen 
eral  officers  who  were  to  serve  in  the  next  grade 
below  him.  He  promptly  named  Hamilton,  C. 
C.  Pinckney,  and  Knox.  Adams  accepted  the 
names  without  demur,  and  nominated  them  to 
the  senate  together,  in -this  order.  Upon  the 
same  day  and  in  the  same  order  the  nomina 
tions  were  ratified.  But^&rthwith  there  arose 
a  perplexing  question :  what  was  the  precedence  i 
between  these  three  major  -  generals  ?  The 
friends  of  Hamilton  said  that  it  was  established 
by  the  order  of  nomination  and  of  ratification. 
Others  said  that  it  was  determined  by  the  rela 
tive  rank  of  the  three  in  their  former  service, 
that  is  to  say  in  the  Revolutionary  army.  The 
latter  rule  seemed  to  be  sustained  by  precedent ; 
but,  if  adopted,  it  would  make  the  essential 
change  of  putting  Knox  first  and  Hamilton 
third.  Hamilton,  however,  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  stand  next  to  Washington,  and  his 
powerful  following  were  resolved  upon  the  same 
arrangement.  There  is  not  room  to  give  the 
details  of  a  competition  which  evolved  infinite 
bitterness,  and  left  behind  it  malignant  jealous 
ies  and  inextinguishable  feuds.  Adams  was  de 
cidedly  inclined  against  the  pretensions  of  Ham 
ilton  ;  he  professed  respect  for  the  precedents  ; 
he  said  that  he  did  not  wish  to  hurt  the  feelings 

19 


290  JOHN  ADAMS. 

of  Knox  ;  he  did  not  say,  though  doubtless  he 
could  have  said  with  truth,  that  he  did  not  care 
to  confer  on  Hamilton  a  marked  distinction  of 
very  doubtful  propriety.  But  he  soon  found 
that,  whether  he  was  willing  or  unwilling,  he 
must  perforce  do  this  especial  favor.  Washing 
ton  expressed  his  desire  to  have  Hamilton 
second  to  himself,  and  his  wish  was  conclusive 
in  the  premises.  Adams  finally  was  compelled 
to  yield,  though  with  no  good  grace,  to  a  pres 
sure  which  he  could  not  resist.  He  never  fully 
understood  what  machinery  had  been  devised 
to  create  that  pressure  ;  but  the  whole  story 
has  since  been  told.  Admirers  of  Hamilton 
and  friends  of  Adams  still  wrangle  about  it. 
The  former  say  that  Hamilton's  preeminent 
ability  gave  him  a  substantial  right  to  the 
place,  and  that  Washington  needed  not  to  be 
prompted  by  any  one  to  express  emphatically 
his  genuine  preference.  The  latter  say  that 
Washington  was  worked  upon  by  Hamilton 
himself,  by  Pickering  and  by  Wolcott,  secretly 
and  artfully,  in  a  manner  at  least  unbecoming 
in  the  principal,  and  little  short  of  dishonor- 
able  in  the  two  office-holding  assistants.  As 
usual  in  bitter  personal  quarrels  the  truth  lies 
between  the  two  sides.  Washington  undoubt 
edly  had  an  independent  preference  for  Hamil 
ton  ;  he  was  also  probably  led  to  put  it  in  the 


THE  PRESIDENCY.  291 

shape  of  a  positive  ultimatum  by  representa 
tions  which  ought  not  to  have  come  privately 
from  the  members  of  the  president's  cabinet. 
As  matters  turned  out  the  affair  was  unfortu 
nate  for  all  concerned.  The  rank  did  Hamil 
ton  no  substantial  good,  since  the  army  never 
even  got  into  camp ;  but  the  burning  dislike 
between  him  and  Adams  was  blown  into  a 
fiercer  flame,  in  which  the  good  name  of  each 
^wajubadly  singed.  Neither  did  it  bode  any 
good  for  the  Federal  party  that  its  chief  men 
were  largely  concerned  with  quarrels  among 
themselves,  while  so  watchful,  autocratic,  mas 
terly  a  politician  as  Jefferson  was  disciplining 
the  united  forces  of  the  Democrats  in  the  op 
posite  camp. 

The  French  government,  at  this  time  per 
fectly  unprincipled,  and  conducting  affairs  with 
reckless,  hectoring  insolence,  would  gladly  have 
cajoled  or  terrified  the  United  States  into  an 
alliance  ;  failing  in  this,  they  intended  to  give 
Frenchmen  chances  to  get  as  much  as  possible 
in  the  way  of  pickings  and  stealings  from 
American  merchants.  But  fortunately  the  di 
rectory  had  no  desire  for  actual  war  with  a  re 
mote  people,  quite  out  of  the  line  of  European 
ambition  and  politics.  Thus  Talleyrand  had 
held  Gerry  in  Paris  as  a  sort  of  door  for  re 
treat  when  he  should  find  that  he  had  gone 


292  JOHN  ADAMS. 

dangerously  far.  Matters  standing  thus,  the 
great  French  minister  was  astounded  and  not  a 
little  mortified  at  the  publication  of  his  disgrace 
in  the  X.  Y.  Z.  dispatches.  Of  course  he  denied 
that  he  had  known  anything  about  the  propo 
sals  for  bribery,  but  of  course  also  he  knew 
that  no  one  really  believed  a  word  of  his  pro 
testations.  In  his  irritation  at  his  humiliating 
position,  feeling  himself  an  object  of  ridicule 
as  he  stood  exposed  in  his  vulgar  and  disap 
pointed  rascality,  he  berated  poor  Gerry  in  a 
most  outrageous  manner.  But  Gerry  had 
spirit  and  honesty,  and  retorted.  Talleyrand, 
thus  checked,  quickly  recovered  his  wonted 
audacious  self-possession,  appreciated  the  exi 
gencies  of  the  situation,  and  saw  the  best  way 
out  of  it.  There  had  been  a  great  mistake,  he 
said,  a  farrago  of  lies,  an  astonishing  misunder 
standing  ;  the  Americans  ought  not  to  be  so 
angry ;  they  were  under  a  singular  delusion  ; 
France  felt  very  kindly  towards  the  United 
States,  only  wanted  peace  and  friendship,  would 
receive  ministers  with  pleasure,  and  in  a  word 
was  in  the  very  most  amiable  of  humors.  He 
wished  to  use  Gerry  as  a  means  of  conveying 
these  views  to  the  American  government ;  but 
Gerry,  unpopular  and  suspected,  was  likely  to 
be  altogether  inadequate  to  this  purpose.  An 
other  channel,  therefore,  was  found  in  Monsieur 


THE  PRESIDENCY.  293 

Pichon,  French  minister  at  the  Hague,  who 
was  instructed  to  make  advances  to  Vans  Mur 
ray,  the  American  minister.  These  commu 
nications  Murray  at  once  repeated  in  private 
letters  to  Mr.  Adams.  At  the  beginning  of 
October,  1798,  Gerry  was  back  in  Boston,  and 
told  Mr.  Adams,  who  by  the  way  had  not  lost 
confidence  in  him,  what  Talleyrand  had  said 
to  him.  A  few  days  later  Vans  Murray's  first 
letter,  mentioning  the  approaches  of  Pichon, 
came  to  hand. 

Beneath  these  influences,  on  October  20,  the 
president  wrote  to  Pickering  concerning  cer 
tain  "  things  which  deserve  to  be  maturely  con 
sidered  before  the  meeting  of  Congress,"  and 
upon  which  Mr.  Adams  wished  "  to  obtain  the 
advice  of  the  heads  of  departments."  His  first 
query  was  :  Should  he  recommend  a  declara 
tion  of  war  ?  The  next :  "  Whether  in  the 
speech  the  president  may  not  say  that,  in  order 
to  keep  open  the  channels  of  negotiation,  it  is 
his  intention  to  nominate  a  minister  to  the 
French  republic,  who  may  be  ready  to  embark 
for  France  as  soon^s  he  or  the  president  shall 
receive  from  the  directory  satisfactory  assur 
ances  that  he  shall  be  received  and  entitled  to 
all  the  prerogatives  and  privileges  of  the  gen 
eral  law  of  nations,  and  that  a  minister  of  equal 
rank  and  powers  shall  be  appointed  and  com- 


294  JOHN  ADAMS. 

missioned  to  treat  with  him."  Upon  receipt 
of  this  very  unwelcome  suggestion,  the  cabi 
net  ministers,  according  to  Mr.  C.  F.  Adams, 
"called  together  a  council  of  their  leading 
friends,  including  the  military  generals  hap 
pening  to  be  assembled  at  Philadelphia,  Wash 
ington,1  Hamilton,  and  Pinckney,  where  they 
matured  the  language  of  a  draft  intended  for 
the  use  of  Mr.  Adams  in  his  opening  speech." 
Upon  the  president's  arrival  at  the  end  of  No 
vember  this  paper  was  presented  to  him,  as 
embodying  the  views  of  his  cabinet  in  response 
to  his  interrogatories.  It  pleased  him  so  well 
that  he  adopted  it  with  the  exception  of  a  sin 
gle  clause ;  but  it  so  happened  that  in  that 
clause  the  marrow  and  chief  importance  of  the 
whole  document  lay.  For  it  contained  these 
words  :  "  But  the  sending  another  minister  to 
make  a  new  attempt  at  negotiation  would,  in 
my  opinion,2  be  an  act  of  humiliation  to  which 
the  United  States  ought  not  to  submit  without 
extreme  necessity.  No  such  necessity  exists. 
...  If  France  shall  send  a  minister  to  nego- 

1  Mr.  Adams  says :  "  There  is  no  evidence  yet  before  the 
world   that  General  Washington   actually  took  part   in   the 
consultation." 

2  See  this  quotation  in  C.  F.  Adams's  Life  of  John  Adams, 
octavo  ed.  p.  536  ;    Mr.  C.  F.  Adams  says  that  Gibbs  gives 
it   wrongly,   by  omitting  the  words  "  in  my  opinion."     See 
Gibbs's  Administrations  of  Washington  and  Adams,  ii.  171. 


THE  PRESIDENCY.  295 

tiate,  he  will  be  received  with&onor  and  treated 
with  candor."  Now  it  so  happened  that  "  my 
opinion,"  thus  offered  ready-made  to  Mr. 
Adams,  was  far  from  being  held  by  him.  On 
the  contrary  he  thought  that,  under  certain 
circumstances,  another  minister  might  be  sent 
without  humiliation  ;  should  those  circum 
stances  come  to  pass  he  intended  to  send  a 
minister ;  and  he  was  not  ready  to  say  that 
reconciliation  could  only  be  effected  if  France 
would  take  the  initiative  and  herself  dispatch 
the  next  envoy.  So  he  struck  out  this  passage, 
which  set  forth  the  views  of  his  secretaries, 
and  inserted  in  its  place  a  long  exposition  of 
his  own  very  different  notions.  His  clauses 
are  so  framed  as  not  only  to  express  but  to  ex 
plain  and  vindicate  his  policy ;  and,  long  as 
they  are,  they  are  so  important  that  they  must 
be  quoted  in  full.  He  said  :  — 

**  But  in  demonstrating  by  our  conduct  that  we  do 
not  fear  war  in  the  necessary  protection  of  our  rights 
and  honor,  we  shall  give  no  room  to  infer  that  we 
abandon  the  desire  of  peace.  An  efficient  preparation 
for  war  can  alone  insure  peace.  It  is  peace  that  we 
have  uniformly  and  persevermgly  cultivated  ;  and  luir- 
TDOfiJ[betweeri  us  and  France  may  be  restored  at  her 
option.  But^To  «end  another  minister  without  more 
determinate  assurances  that  he  would  be  received, 
would  be  an  act  of  humiliation  to  which  the  United 


296  JOHN  ADAMS. 

States  ought  not  to  submit.  It  must  therefore  be  left 
to  France,  if  she  is  indeed  desirous  of  accommodation, 
to  take  the  requisite  steps. 

"  The  United  States  will  steadily  observe  the  max 
ims  by  which  they  have  hitherto  been  governed. 
They  will  respect  the  sacred  rights  of  embassy.  And 
with  a  sincere  disposition  on  the  part  of  France  to 
desist  from  hostility,  to  make  reparation  for  the  in 
juries  heretofore  inflicted  upon  our  commerce,  and  to 
do  justice  in  the  future,  there  will  be  no  obstacle  to 
the  restoration  of  a  friendly  intercourse.  J  In  making 
to  you  this  declaration,  I  give  a  pledge  to  France  and 
to  the  world  that  the  executive  authority  of  this  coun 
try  still  adheres  to  the  humane  and  pacific  policy 
which  has  invariably  governed  its  proceedings,  in  con 
formity  with  the  wishes  of  .the  other  branches  of  the 
government,  and  of  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
But  considering  the  late  manifestations  of  her  policy 
towards  foreign  nations,  I  deem  it  a  duty  deliberately 
and  solemnly  to  declare  my  opinion,  that,  whgther  we 
negotiate  with  her  or  not,  vigorous  preparations  lor 
war  will  be  alike  indispensable.  These  alone  will 
give  jus  an  equal  treaty  and  insure  its  observance." 

These  were  the  outlines  of  an  excellent  pol 
icy.  F^ojr.  any  one  who  knew  the  president 
knew  well  that  he  meant  all  that  lie  said,  that 
lie  would  get  ready  for  war  thoroughly,  and 
tl^rtr  "he  would  make  it  in  earnest,  when  it 
should  become  necessary.  There  was  enough 
spirit,  resentment,  and  vigor  in  the  message  to 


THE  PRESIDENCY.  297 

satisfy  any  man  who  could  subordinate  his  tem 
per  to  his  good  sense.  There  was  much  more 
of  real  dignity  in  this  self-control,  evidently  not 
growing  out  of  pusillanimity,  than  there  would 
have  been  in  flying  into  a  counter-rage  against 
France.  In  the  comparison  between  the  two 
governments,  the  American  certainly  appeared 
entitled  to  much  more  respect  for  good  sense, 
and  to  not  less  for  courage.  Mr.  Adams  showed 
the  happy  mixture  of  moderation  and  resolution 
which  indicate  the  highest  stage  of  civilization 
to  which  mankind  has  yet  come  in  international 
relationship.  But  these  traits  did  not  com 
mend  themselves  at  the  time  to  the  Hamilto- 
nian  Federalists.  They  wanted  what  in  the 
present  day  is  called  a  "  strong  policy,"  so 
"  strong "  that  it  would  almost  sureTy  have 
ended  in  a  war,  in  which  the  country  would 
have  been  overwhelmed  with  disaster,  in  at 
tempting  to  preserve  that  crude  kind  of  honor 
cherished  by  knights-errant,  duelists,  and  pu 
gilists.  Having  substantially  this  aim  in  view, 
though  it  must  be  confessed  that  they  would 
not  have  accepted  precisely  this  formulation  of 
it,  they  were  made  very  angry  by  Mr.  Adams's 
message,  and  by  his  rejection  of  the  words 
which  they  had  so  conveniently  and  consider 
ately  got  ready  for  him.  They  even  fell  into 
such  a  frame  of  mind  as  to  fancy  that  he  had 


298  JOHN  ADAMS. 

no  political  right  to  do  as  he  had  done.  They 
conceived  that  in  their  conference  they  had  es 
tablished  the  policy  of  the  party,  and  they  did 
not  think  that  Mr.  Adams,  simply  because  he 
was  president,  had  a  right  through  his  own  sole 
and  individual  action  to  make  a  fundamental 
change  in  that  policy.  But  Mr.  Adams  utterly 
ignored  party  discipline.  His  own  convictions 
were  the  sole  and  immutable  law  of  his  own 
actions. 

During  the  winter  of  1798-99  Mr.  Adams  re 
ceived  more  letters  from  Vans  Murray,  which, 
with  some  corroborating  information,  strength 
ened  his  faith  in  the  willingness  of  France  to 
meet  any  advance  on  his  part  towards  a  re 
newal  of  negotiations.  At  length,  apparently 
early  in  February,  1799,  he  received  a  letter 
from  Murray,  inclosing  an  official  dispatch  from 
Talleyrand  to  Pichon,  in  which  occurred  these 
words  :  "  D'aprds  ces  bases,  vous  avez  eu  raison 
d'avancer  que  tout  plenipote>itiaire  que  le-gouv- 
ernement  des  Etats  Unis  enverra  en  France, 
pour  terminer  les  differends  qui  subsisttent  entre 
les  deux  pays,  serait  incontestablement  regu 
avec  les  egards  dus  au  representant  d'une  na 
tion  libre,  independente  et  puissante." 

This  gave  Mr.  Adams  a  sufficient  basis  for 
action.  More  than  this,  as  Mr.  C.  F.  Adams 
puts  the  case  not  unfairly,  it  imposed  upon  him 


THE  PRESIDENCY.  299 

a  serious  responsibility ;  for  it  was  a  semi-offi 
cial  notification  to  him  that  France,  falling  at 
last  into  a  penitent  humor,  desired  to  be  ad 
dressed  again  in  the  way  of  negotiation.     If  he, 
in  a  distant  and  haughty  temper,  should  hold 
aloof    before   this   advance,    and   if   then    war 
should   ultimately  ensue,   he    might  well   feel 
that  he  had  precipitated  a  terrible  evil  from  no 
better  motive  than  an  over-strained   sense   of 
pride.     Moreover,  when  the  facts  should  become 
known,  as  they  inevitably  must,  the  Democratic 
party,  even    now   powerful,  would    be   greatly 
strengthened  by  being  able  to  say  that  French 
overtures  had   been    rejected.     The    moderate 
men  who  had  lately  oscillated  from  Democracy 
to  Federalism  would  oscillate  back  again  from 
Federalism  to  Democracy.    What  chance  would 
there  then  be  of  conducting  successfully  a  war 
with  France,  when  a  large  party  would  be  bit 
terly  opposed  to  it,  and  another  large  body,  the 
two  together  making  more  than  half  of  the  na- 
tion,  would  be  at  best  lukewarm  ?    Mr.  Adams 
^  felt  no  need  of  aid  in  order  to  determine  upon 
v    his  course.     With  a  cool  independence,   unus- 
ual  then  Q^gince  upon  the  part  of  a  president, 
and  not  perfectly  in  accord  with  the  sentiment 
of  the  American  system  of  government,  though 
strictly  lawful  under  the   constitution,  he  dis 
pensed  with  the  form  of  consulting  his  cabinet, 


300  JOHN  ADAMS. 

whose  advice  he  had  good  reason  to  feel  assured 

would  not  accord  with  his  own,  and  therefore 

would  not  be  followed.     On  February  18,  1799, 

he  sent  in  to  the  senate  the  nomination  of  Vans 

,  Murray  to  be   minister  to  France,  premising, 

0\    hpjEexar,  that  Murray  should  not  present  him 


self  in  Paris  until  the  French  government 
should  give  a  public  and  official  assurance  that 
they  would  receive  the  envoy  in  character  and 
would  appoint  a  minister  of  equal  rank  to  treat 
with  him. 

The  message  fell  like  lightning  from  a  clear 
sky  among  the  Federalists.  Pickering  hastened 
to  send  the  news  to  Hamilton.  "  We  have  all 
been  shocked  and  grieved  at  the  nomination  of 
a  minister  to  negotiate  with  France.  ...  I  beg 
you  to  be  assured  that  it  is  wholly  his  [the 
president's]  own  act,  without  any  participation 
or  communication  with  any  of  us.  ...  The 
foundation  of  this  fatal  nomination  of  Mr.  Mur 
ray  was  laid  in  the  president's  speech  at  the 
opening  of  Congress.  He  peremptorily  deter 
mined  (against  our  unanimous  opinions)  to 
leave  open  the  door  for  the  degrading  and  mis 
chievous  measure  of  sending  another  minister 
to  France,  even  without  waiting  for  direct  over 
tures  from  her." 

"  I  have  neither  time  nor  inclination,"  Sedg- 
wick  wrote  to  Hamilton  concerning:  the  mes- 


c 


THE  PRESIDENCY. 

sage,  "  to  detail  all  the  false  and  insidious" 
larations  it  contains.  .  .  .  Had  the  foulest  heart 
and  the  ablest  head  in  the  world  been  permitted 
to  select  the  most  embarrassing  and  ruinous 
measure,  perhaps  it  would  have  been  precisely 
the  one  which  has  been  adopted.  In  the  di 
lemma  to  which  we  are  reduced,  whether  we 
approve  or  reject  the  nomination,  evils  only, 
certain,  great,  but  in  extent  incalculable,  pre 
sent  themselves."  Angry  and  astonished,  the 
Hamiltonian  wing  of  the  party  knew  not  at 
first  what  to  do,  and  then  in  their  confusion 
did  a  very  strange  thing.  The  committee  to 
whom  the  nomination  was  referred,  consisting 
of  five  Federalists,  called  on  the  president  to 
demand  reasons  and  insist  on  alterations.  Sedg- 
wick,  the  chairman,  a  thorough-going  partisan 
of  Hamilton,  admitted  that  this  proceeding  was 
an  "  infraction  of  correct  principles ;  "  Mr. 
Adams  declared  that  it  was  unconstitutional,  a 
word  perhaps  somewhat  too  powerful  for  the 
occasion.  It  was  finally  agreed  that  the  inter 
view  should  be  strictly  unofficial,  and  then  the 
gentlemen  talked  the  business  over  together. 
Mr.  Adams  said,  according  to  Sedgwick's  state 
ment,  "  that  to  defend  the  executive  from  oli 
garchic  influence  it  was  indispensable  that  he 
should  insist  on  a  decision  on  the  nomination  ; " 
that  he  would  "  neither  withdraw  nor  modify 


302  JOHN  ADAMS. 

|the  nomination ;  "  but,  if  it  should  be  negatived, 
he  "would  propose  a  commission,  two  of  the 
members  of  which  should  be  gentlemen  within 
the  United  States." 

The  visitors  retired  in  a  bad  temper.  A 
meeting  of  Federalist  senators  was  held  ;  and 
it  was  agreed  that,  whatever  they  might  ulti 
mately  be  compelled  to  do,  they  would  at  least, 
in  the  first  instance,  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  re 
jecting  Vans  Murray.  Mr.  C.  F.  Adams  ac 
knowledges  that  there  were  objections  against 
hiaa,  "  such  as  senators  might  legitimately  enter 
tain  and  as  were  not  without  intrinsic  weight." 
But  the  president  stole  a  second  march  upon 
the  irritated  enemies  who  were  preparing  ob 
stacles  for  his  path.  At  the  next  meeting  of 
the  senate  Sedgwick  was  asked  to  hold  back  his 
report  because  the  president  had  another  mes 
sage  ready.  This  was  at  once  delivered;  it 
nominated  three  persons :  Chief  Justice  Oli 
ver  Ellsworth,  Patrick  Henry,  and  Vans  Mur 
ray  to  be  joint  commissioners  to  France.  Ham 
ilton  meanwhile,  in  reply  to  the  news  of  Vans 
Murray's  nomination,  had  written  to  Sedgwick 
that  "  the  measure  must1  go  into  effect  with  the 
additional  idea  of  a  commission  of  three.  The 
mode  must  be  accommodated  with  the  presi 
dent."  Unwittingly  Mr.  Adams  had  come 
within  the  advantage  of  Mr.  Hamilton's  die- 


THE  PRESIDENCY.  303 

turn ;  and  the  discontented  Federalists,  who 
would  readily  have  encountered  the  president, 
yielded  at  once  to  their  real  chief.  Sedgwick 
replied :  "  This  is  everything  which,  under  the 
circumstances,  could  be  done."  The  nomina 
tions  were  confirmed,  and  oddly  enough  the 
confirmation  of  Murray  alone  was  by  a  unani 
mous  vote.  Henry  declined  on  the  score  of  age 
and  infirmity,  and  Governor  Davie,  of  North 
Carolina,  was  appointed  in  his  stead. 

The  sole  chance  now  left  to  the  "Anglicist'* 
Federalists  was  in  the  possible  fruits  of  delay. 
The  president,  feeling  that  reaction  which  fol 
lows  extreme  tension,  tarried  in  Philadelphia 
only  long  enough  to  determine  the  brief  and 
simple  ultimata  of  the  instructions  for  the  com 
missioners.  Then  he  went  home  for  rest  and 
vacation  at  Quincy.  On  March  6  Pickering 
wrote  to  Vans  Murray,  stating  what  had  been 
done  and  that  Ellsworth  and  Davie  would  em 
bark  immediately  upon  receipt  of  the  official 
promise  that  they  should  be  properly  received 
and  admitted  to  negotiations.  Early  in  May 
Murray  received  the  dispatch,  and  communi 
cated  its  substance  to  Talleyrand.  That  min 
ister  at  once  gave  the  required  assurance  for 
mally  and  officially ;  but  unable  altogether  to 
restrain  his  irritation,  he  delivered  himself  also 
of  some  insulting  criticism  to  the  general  pur- 


304  JOHN  ADAMS. 

port  that  the  conduct  of  the  Americans  had 
been  disingenuous  and  captious.  On  July  30 
these  papers  reached  Pickering,  and  he  imme 
diately  transmitted  them  to  Mr.  Adams  at 
Quincy,  calling  especial  attention  to  the  injuri 
ous  language.  But  Adams,  looking  to  the  sub 
stance  and  not  permitting  himself  to  be  too 
greatly  incensed  by  mere  impertinence,  directed 
that  the  instructions  should  be  got  ready.  Ap 
parently  it  was  nearly  five  weeks  before  this 
order  was  fulfilled ;  and  when  at  last  the  draft 
reached  Mr.  Adams,  it  came  inclosed  in  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Pickering  intimating  that  in  view  of 
recent  political  changes  in  France,  including 
the  resignation  of  Talleyrand,  the  cabinet  sug 
gested  delay.  Mr.  Adams  replied  that  he  was 
quite  willing  to  assent  to  a  postponement  until 
the  middle  or  end  of  October.  By  October  10 
he  was  at  Trenton,  the  temporary  seat  of  gov 
ernment. 

Matters  there  were  not  pleasant.  He  was  ill 
and  in  poor  condition  for  an  encounter,  yet  he 
found  the  opponents  of  his  policy  gathered  to 
resist  it.  There  were  assembled  his  three  sec 
retaries,  all  stubbornly  hostile  to  the  mission ; 
Hamilton  soon  arrived,  and  at  their  invitation 
Ellsworth  also  appeared  upon  the  scene,  giving 
his  influence  with  much  caution  and  reserve, 
but,  such  as  it  was,  giving  it  to  the  opposition. 


THE  PRESIDENCY.  305 

There  came  news,  too,  just  at  this  juncture,  of 
disasters  to  the  French  arms.  The  Hamiltoni- 
ans  triumphantly  foretold  that  a  few  days  would 
bring  the  glad  intelligence  that  the  French 
king  was  enjoying  his  own  again  in  the  royal 
palaces  of  Paris.  Mr.  Adams  listened  in  an 
unusually  silent  and  tranquil  temper.  On  Oc 
tober  15,  in  the  evening,  he  summoned  a  cab 
inet  meeting,  at  which  he  brought  up  for  dis 
cussion  two  or  three  points  in  the  instructions, 
which  were  easily  settled.  He  gave  no  more 
indication  that  he  was  about  to  take  a  decisive 
step  than  he  had  given  before  sending  in  Vans 
Murray's  nomination.  Nevertheless,  two  of  the 
secretaries  "  received  before  breakfast  "  on  the 
following  morning  orders  that  the  instructions 
should  be  at  once  put  in  final  shape,  and  that 
a  frigate  should  be  got  in  readiness  to  take  the 
commissioners  on  board  not  later  than  Novem 
ber  1.  They  actually  set  sail  on  November  5. 
This  French  mission  was  the  death-blow  of 
/the  Federalist  party.  The  political  body  was 
rent  in  twain  ;  the  two  parts  remained  belted 
together  by  their  common  name,  but  no  longer 
instinct  with  a  common  vitality.  It  had  been 
a  very  grand  party,  an  organization  full  of 
brains  and  vigor,  a  brotherhood  embracing  a 
remarkable  number  of  able  and  honest  men  ;  it 

had  achieved  deeds  so  great  as  to  outstrip  exag- 
20 


306  JOHN  ADAMS. 

geration  ;  it  had  given  form  and  coherence  to 
the  political  system,  strength  and  the  power  of 
living  to  the  infant  nation.  A  sad  spectacle  was 
indeed  presented  when  a  party  so  nobly  distin 
guished  lapsed  into  disintegration  and  the  hope 
less  ruin  of  intestine  feuds.  No  wonder  that 
vindictive  rage  possessed  those  men  who  had 
created  it,  who  had  lived  in  it  and  for  it,  who 
had  honestly  and  zealously  served  it,  and  wholly 
identified  themselves  with  it.  Less  than  half 
of  the  party  in  numbers,  but  much  more  than 
half  in  influence,  ability,  and  prominence, 
pointed  to  Mr.  Adams  as  the  parricide  who 
had  done  this  cruel  slaying.  This  assertion,  re 
iterated  with  furious  clamor  at  the  time,  has 
since  been  adopted  as  an  established  fact  in 
American  history ;  every  one  thinks  that  he 
knows  that  Mr.  Adams  destroyed  the  Federal 
party  by  acting  counter  to  its  policy.  But  who 
had  the  right  to  establish  the  policy  of  the 
party?  Hamilton  had  tacitly  arrogated  it  to 
himself.  When  in  office,  he  had  created  the 
party,  established  its  principles,  formulated  its 
measures,  trained  and  led  its  forces,  and  made 
its  victories  possible  ;  since  retiring  to  private 
life,  he  had  counseled  and  controlled  its  leaders. 
A  large  proportion  of  the  most  influential  Fed 
eralists,  in  and  out  of  office,  including  three 
members  of  the  cabinet  and  many  of  the  best 


THE  PRESIDENCY.  307 

speakers  of  the  party  in  Congress,  conceived 
that  revolt  against  his  supremacy  was  defection 
from  the  party.  Nevertheless  in  no  caucus  of 
Federalist  members  of  Congress  could  these 
Hamiltoni  ans  ever  muster  a  majority  against 
Mr.  Adams.  Neither  does  there  seem  any 
doubt  that  upon  a  simple  vote  of  all  the  Feder 
alists  in  the  country,  taken  at  any  time  during 
his  administration,  much  more  than  half  would 
have  sustained  him.  War  with  France  never 
had  been,  never  could  be,  avowed  by  the  Ham- 
iltonian  section  as  a  principle  of  the  party.  On 
the  contrary,  they  professed  to  desire  peace. 
Mr.  Adams  secured  peace  by  a  step  against 
which  they  could  urge  no  graver  objection  than 
that  it  was  not  sufficiently  high-spirited  to  com 
port  with  the  national  dignity.  Then  the  party 
divided,  and  they  said  that  Adams  was  to  blame. 
Their  conclusion  does  not  seem  to  be  fully  sup 
ported  by  the  facts. 

But  the  allotment  of  responsibility  between 
Adams  and  Hamilton,  and  the  dispute  as  to 
which  of  them  was  better  entitled  to  establish 
the  party  policy,  are  matters  of  vastly  less  im 
portance  than  the  question  upon  which  side 
right  and  wisdom  lay.  This  seems  to  require 
no  discussion  beyond  the  briefest  statement  of 
the  great  facts.  War  was  avoided,  by  means 
which  no  one  now  thinks  of  stigmatizing  as 


308  JOHN  ADAMS. 

degrading.  The  method  was  devised  by  Mr. 
Adams,  and  the  result  was  won  by  his  persist 
ent  adherence  to  that  method.  One  is  inclined 
to  say  that,  if  in  all  this  he  ran  counter  to  the 
policy  of  his  party,  it  was  very  discreditable  to 
the  party  to  have  such  a  policy.  In  _f  act  pretty 
much  all  writers  now  agree  that  Adams  be 
haved  with  courage,  patriotism,  and  sound  judg 
ment,  and  that  he  placed  the  country  under  a 
great  debt  of  gratitude ;  a  debt  which  was 
never  paid  in  his  lifetime,  and  only  since  his 
death  has  been  very  tardily  and  ungraciously 
acknowledged. 

Whether  or  not  Mr.  Adams  was  a  parricide 
as  towards  his  party,  he  was  certainly  a  suicide 
as  towards  himself.  The  act  of  Curtius  in  leap 
ing  into  the  gulf  to  save  Rome  was  a  more  pic 
turesque  but  not  a  more  unquestionable  deed  of 
patriotic  self-immolation.  From  that  fifth  day 
of  November,  1799,  Mr.  Adams  was  a  doomed 
man.  No  effort  could  now  restore  harmony 
among  the  discordant  ranks  of  the  Federalists. 
For  the  future  all  the  earnest  fighting  on  their 
part  was  done  inside  their  own  camp  and 
against  each  other.  It  is  a  melancholy  and  un 
profitable  story  of  personal  animosities,  which 
may  be  briefly  told. 

That  Mr.  Adams  anticipated  the  results 
which  followed  his  action  is  not  probable. 


THE  PRESIDENCY.  309 

There  is  nothing  to  indicate  that  he  had  any 
idea  that  he  was  disrupting  and  destroying  the 
Federal  party.  But  to  his  credit  it  should  also 
be  said  that  there  is  no  indication  that  he  con 
sidered  this  matter  at  all.  Every  particle  of 
evidence  —  at  least  all  which  has  been  published 
—  goes  to  show  that  his  mind  was  wholly  occu 
pied  with  the  interests  of  the  nation,  to  the  ut 
ter  exclusion  of  any  thought  of  his  party  or  of 
himself.  After  the  irretrievable  ruin  which 
overtook  him,  amid  the  execrations  of  the  Fed 
eralists,  who  attributed  their  utter  destruction 
wholly  to  him,  he  never  gave  a  symptom  of  re 
gret,  never  said  a  word  except  in  strenuous  sup 
port  of  his  action.  Beyond  question  he  was 
too  profoundly  convinced  that  he  was  right  to 
be  moved  from  his  opinion  by  any  consequences 
whatsoever.  His  unchangeable  sentiments  were 
those  expressed  by  him  in  1815,  in  one  of  his 
letters  to  James  Lloyd  :  "  I  wish  not  to  fatigue 
you  with  too  long  a  letter  at  once,  but,  sir,  I 
will  defend  my  missions  to  France  as  long  as  I 
have  an  eye  to  direct  my  hand  or  a  finger  to 
hold  my  pen.  They  were  the  most  disinter 
ested  and  meritorious  actions  of  my  life.  I  re 
flect  upon  them  with  so  much  satisfaction,  that 
I  desire  no  other  inscription  over  my  gravestone 
than  :  4  Here  lies  John  Adams,  who  took  upon 
himself  the  responsibility  of  the  peace  with 


310  JOHN  ADAMS. 

France  in  the  year  1800.'  "  Substantially  this 
has  been  also  the  verdict  of  posterity,  and  a 
transaction  which  at  the  time  of  its  occurrence 
*w  found  hardly  any  defender,  now  finds  hardly 
any  assailant.  Modern  writers  of  all  shades  of 
opinion  agree  that  Adams  acted  boldly,  hon 
estly,  wisely,  and  for  the  best  welfare  of  the 
country,  in  a  very  critical  peril. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   BREAKING   UP. 

Semel  insanivimus  omnes  !  In  this  chapter 
the  behavior  of  many  wise  and  illustrious  men 
is  to  bear  evidence  to  the  truth  of  this  adage. 
For  madness  certainly  ruled  the  closing  months 
of  Adams's  administration. 

The  foregoing  pages  have  given  glimpses 
rather  than  a  complete  picture  of  the  unhappy 
relationship  existing  between  the  president  and 
three  of  his  secretaries.  Nothing  more  unfor 
tunate  befell  any  one  of  them  throughout  his 
career.  In  the  prosecution  of  the  quarrel  each 
appears  at  his  worst ;  Mr.  Adams's  foibles  of 
hot-headedness  and  of  a  vanity  almost  incred 
ible  in  its  extravagance  stand  out  in  painful  re 
lief.  Pickering,  Wolcott,  and  McHenry,  honest 
men  all,  do  the  only  ignoble  acts  of  their  lives. 
All  four  seem  crazed  by  prejudice  and  rage. 
They  are  so  bereft  of  all  fair  intelligence  as 
utterly  to  ignore  not  only  the  character  but  the 
effect  of  their  own  acts,  which  run  counter  to 
sound  judgment  even  more  than  to  right  feeling. 


B12  JOHN  ADAMS. 

By  the  time  to  which  our  narrative  has  come 
the  secretaries  absolutely  hated  the  president ; 
they  were  in  such  a  state  of  mind  that,  without 
appreciating  it,  they  treated  him  with  thor 
oughly  bad  faith ;  they  betrayed  all  official  dis 
cussions  to  Hamilton ;  they  sought  and  fol 
lowed  Hamilton's  advice.  They  did  this  for 
the  purpose  of  gaining  Hamilton's  invaluable 
aid  in  their  opposition  to  their  proper  chief,  and 
they  deceived  themselves  into  a  belief  that  in 
thus  conducting  themselves  they  were  doing 
strictly  right.  Their  vindication  was  that 
Adams's  policy  was  destructive  of  their  party, 
and  was  intrinsically  wrong ;  that  therefore  it 
was  their  duty  to  counteract  it  by  all  the  means 
which  even  their  office  as  his  confidential  advis 
ers  put  in  their  power.  Their  ethics  were  sin 
gular  and  have  not  generally  been  accepted  as 
sound.  According  to  received  principles,  fair 
dealing  to  Mr.  Adams,  even  justice  to  them 
selves,  would  have  led  them  to  resign,  when 
they  so  utterly  differed  from  him  that  their 
sole  aim  was  to  thwart  him.  But  however  this 
may  have  been,  certain  it  is  that  any  decent 
Bense  of  propriety,  nay,  for  the  word  must  be 
used,  of  honor,  would  have  led  them  to  refrain 
from  communicating  cabinet  secrets  for  use 
against  the  president  by  his  avowed  enemy. 
Mr.  Adams  did  not  know  what  was  going  on ; 


THE  BREAKING    UP,  313 

he  even  went  down  to  his  grave  ignorant  of 
much  of  this  mechanism  by  which  he  had  suf 
fered  so  severely.  But  without  fully  knowing 
the  cause  he  could  dimly  perceive  where  it  lay. 
He  wisely  concluded  that  some  changes  in  the 
cabinet  could  be  advantageously  made. 

Me  Henry  was  the  first  to  go.  He  had  been 
laborious  and  was  in  the  main  a  well-meaning 
and  amiable  man,  but  he  was  notoriously  in 
competent  for  his  position.  His  wonderfully 
ill-written  sketch  of  his  parting  interview  with 
Mr.  Adams,  the  only  existing  account  of  a 
strange  scene,  is  worth  repeating  in  full.  On 
May  5,  1800,  the  president  sent  for  him. 

"  The  business  appeared  to  relate  to  the  appoint 
ment  of  a  purveyor.  .  .  .  This  settled,  he  took  up 
other  subjects ;  became  indecorous  and  at  times  out 
rageous.  General  Washington  had  saddled  him  with 
three  secretaries,  Wolcott,  Pickering,  and  myself.  I 
had  not  appointed  a  gentleman  in  North  Carolina,  the 
only  elector  who  had  given  him  a  vote  in  that  state, 
a  captain  in  the  army,  and  afterwards  had  him  ap 
pointed  a  lieutenant,  which  he  refused.  I  had  biased 
General  Washington  to  place  Hamilton  in  his  list  of 
major  generals  before  Knox.  I  had  eulogized  Gen 
eral  Washington  in  my  report  to  Congress,  and  had 
attempted  in  the  same  report  to  praise  Hamilton.  In 
short  there  was  no  bounds  to  his  jealousy.  I  had 
done  nothing  right.  I  had  advised  a  suspension  of 
the  mission.  Everybody  blamed  me  for  my  official 
conduct,  and  I  must  resign." 


314  JOHN  ADAMS. 

Before  such  a  storm  of  abuse  McHenry  went 
down  at  once.  He  "  resigned  the  next  morn 
ing."  This  lively  picture  certainly  shows  Mr. 
Adams  in  one  of  his  worst  moods,  mingled  of 
anger,  egotism,  and  that  one  great  foolish 
jealousy  of  his  life,  which  consumed  his  heart 
whenever  he  heard  the  praises  of  Washington. 
His  grandson  admits,  with  iiepotal  gentleness 
of  phrase,  that  he  was  not  upon  this  occasion 
either  considerate  or  dignified;  but  says  that 
he  appeared  to  much  more  advantage  soon 
afterward  in  ridding  himself  of  Pickering.  So 
he  did.  Pickering  richly  deserved  unceremoni 
ous  expulsion ;  but  Mr.  Adams  courteously  of 
fered  him.  the  opportunity  to  resign.  It  may 
be  admitted  that  he  probably  would  have  been 
much  less  considerate  had  his  knowledge  of 
Pickering's  behavior  been  less  imperfect.  The 
stiff -backed  and  opinionated  old  Puritan,  full  of 
fight  and  immutable  in  the  conviction  of  his 
own  righteousness,  refused  to  appear  to  go  vol 
untarily,  and  was  thereupon  dismissed.  On  the 
whole  it  was  probably  fortunate  that  Mr. 
Adams  did  not  know  how  badly  these  gentle 
men  had  been  behaving  towards  him,  or  scenes 
of  awful  wrath  and  appalling  violence  would 
have  enlivened  the  biographic  page. 

The  vacancies  thus  made  were  filled  more 
easily  than  might  have  been  expected.  Mar- 


THE  BREAKING    UP.  315 

shall,  having  declined  the  position  of  secretary 
of  Avar,  accepted  that  of  secretary  of  state,  and 
Samuel  Dexter  took  the  war  department.  Wok 
cott,  who  deserved  to  go  quite  as  much  as  either 
of  the  others,  remained^  but  he  only  remained 
to  do  further  injury  to  his  own  good  name,  and 
to  enact  a  very  ungenerous  part.  He  had  hab 
itually  spoken  the  president  so  fair,  that  he  was 
regarded  by  Mr.  Adams  as  a  friendly  adviser, 
though  very  far  from  really  being  so.  He  now 
continued  for  some  months  longer  to  combine 
external  civility  and  deference  to  the  president 
with  the  function  of  cabinet-reporter,  so  to 
speak,  —  and  to  avoid  the  word  spy,  —  for  Mr. 
Hamilton.  In  the  following  November,  amid 
all  the  vexations  which  that  ill-starred  season 
brought  to  Mr.  Adams,  he  sent  in  his  resigna 
tion  to  take  effect  at  the  end  of  the  year,  thus 
leaving  the  president  to  look  for  an  incumbent 
who  would  be  willing  to  hold  the  office  for  two 
months  with  the  certainty,  of  course,  of  being 
superseded  immediately  upon  Jefferson's  acces 
sion.  Yet  strange  to  say,  Adams  always  felt 
kindly  towards  Wolcott,  and  among  the  last 
acts  of  his  administration  made  him  a  judge. 
Never  to  his  dying  day  did  he  learn  how  false 
Wolcott  had  played  him. 

The  story  went,  at  the  time,  that  Mr.  Adams 
had  turned  out  Pickering  in  order  to  conciliate 


316  JOHN  ADAMS. 

Samuel  and  Robert  Smith  of  Baltimore,  and  to 
gain  their  votes  and  influence  in  the  electoral 
college.  The  malicious  calumny  was  after 
ward  abundantly  disproved.  Another  piece  of 
hostile  electioneering  gossip  was  called  forth  by 
the  pardon  of  Fries.  This  man  had  led  the 
riots,  or  as  some  preferred  to  say,  the  rebellion, 
in  western  Pennsylvania,  in  1799.  Twice  he 
was  convicted  of  treason  and  was  sentenced  to 
death,  which  certainly  he  abundantly  deserved. 
Mr.  Adams  pardoned  him,  and  was  at  once 
reviled  as  having  done  so  only  because  it  was 
"a  popular  act  in  Pennsylvania."  But  such 
attacks  as  these  were  the  most  commonplace 
features  of  this  presidential  campaign  of  1800. 
Never  did  a  political  party  enter  into  such  a 
contest  in  so  sorry  a  condition  as  that  of  the 
Federalists.  Harassing  as  Mr.  Adams  had 
found  the  presidency,  he  burned  with  ambition 
to  obtain  it  again.  Before  his  election,  discuss 
ing  the  comparative  prospects  of  Jefferson,  Jay, 
and  himself,  he  had  said :  "  If  Jefferson  and 
Jay  are  president  and  vice-president,  as  is  not 
improbable,  the  other  retires  without  noise,  or 
cries,  or  tears  to  his  farm."  But  circumstances 
were  different  now.  He  had  been  pitted  against 
bitter  opponents  in  a  fierce  controversy  of  great 
moment,  which  had  divided  the  country.  It 
was  not  unnatural  that  he  should  desire  a  pop- 


THE  BREAKING    UP.  317 

ular  ratification  of  his  policy.  The  Hamilto- 
nian  section,  filled  with  implacable  rage  towards 
him,  contemplated  the  possibility  of  his  success 
with  utter  sickness  at  the  heart.  Could  noth 
ing  be  done  to  prevent  it  ?  Could  no  means  be 
devised  for  setting  him  aside  ?  Their  first  plan 
reflected  no  credit  upon  themselves.  It  was  to 
induce  Washington  to  come  out  from  his  retire 
ment  and  stand  as  their  candidate.  It  is  im 
probable  that  any  force  of  personal  influence 
would  have  sufficed  to  give  success  to  so  un 
worthy,  so  cruel  a  scheme  for  making  a  selfish 
and  partisan  use  of  this  noble  patriot  in  the 
days  of  his  old  age.  If  any  such  danger  to  him 
existed,  it  was  indeed  an  opportune  death  which 
rescued  him  from  it.  He  escaped  even  the  in 
jury  of  the  proposition.  After  this  chance  was, 
it  may  almost  be  said  fortunately,  eliminated, 
Hamilton  traveled  through  New  England,  to 
feel  the  pulse  of  the  party.  He  was  compelled 
sadly  to  report,  that  though  "  the  leaders  of  the 
first  class  "  were  all  right,  "  the  leaders  of  the 
second  class  "  were  all  wrong ;  he  saw  plainly 
that,  when  it  came  to  scoring  votes,  Adams  was 
the  only  Federalist  who  could  bring  out  the 
party  strength  in  this  section  of  the  country. 
This  fact  was  undeniable  and  conclusive; 
Adams  must  be  the  candidate.  The  old  scheme 
indeed  might  be  resorted  to ;  equal  voting  foi 


318  JOHN  ADAMS. 

Adams  and  Pinckney  might  be  urged  upon  the 
New  England  electors,  with  the  secret  hope  that 
some  faithless  Southerner  might  throw  out  Mr. 
Adams  and  make  Mr.  Pinckney  president ;  or 
that  in  case  of  real  good  faith  Congress  might 
accomplish  the  same  result.  But  this  poor  and 
exploded  device  had  no  virtue  in  it.  Then  there 
was  some  talk  of  setting  up  Pinckney  openly 
to  supersede  Adams ;  but  this  also  was  mere 
folly  and  desperation.  The  truth  had  to  be 
faced.  Hamilton  mournfully  told  his  friends, 
who  could  not  contradict  him,  that  the  fight  lay 
between  Adams  and  Jefferson,  and  that  in  such 
a  dilemma  they  were  bound  to  support  Mr. 
Adams.  With  wry  faces  they  came  up  to  swal 
low  the  nauseous  dose. 

The  Hamiltoniaii  Federalists  had  for  some 
time  past  been  fond  of  extending  to  Mr.  Adams 
such  unkind  charity  as  lies  in  the  excuse  of 
madness.  He  must  be  insane,  they  said ;  and 
sometimes  they  seemed  more  than  half  in  ear 
nest  in  the  remark.  But  with  all  his  anger, 
bitterness,  and  mortification,  it  soon  appeared 
that  there  were  crazier  men  than  he  at  work 
in  these  acrimonious  days.  Chief  among  them 
was  Hamilton  himself,  who,  however,  was  not 
without  assistants  well  worthy  of  the  same  un 
pleasant  description.  Made  more  vindictive 
than  ever  by  the  necessity  of  actually  aiding 


THE  BREAKING    UP.  319 

the  cause  of  the  man  whom  he  hated,  Hamil 
ton  now  determined  on  the  extraordinary  step 
of  writing  a  public  letter  containing  an  arraign 
ment  of  Mr.  Adams  in  his  administration.  He 
professed  that  he  did  not  intend  to  do  this  by 
way  of  opposition  to  Adams's  reelection ;  on  the 
contrary  he  said  that  he  should  close,  and  finally 
he  actually  did  close,  this  singular  document 
with  the  advice  that  this  unfit  man  should  be 
again  charged  with  those  duties  which  he  had 
just  been  shown  to  be  so  incapable  of  perform 
ing  wisely,  safely,  or  honestly.  For  material  for 
the  criminatory  portion  of  this  startling  com 
pilation,  Hamilton  relied  in  part  upon  Picker 
ing  and  McHenry,  now  out  of  office  and  most 
willing  and  vengeful  coadjutors  ;  but  chiefly 
he  depended  upon  Wolcott,  who  was  still  sec 
retary  of  the  treasury  and  could  give  the  latest 
and  by  far  the  most  valuable  information.  It 
is  painful  to  know  that  Hamilton  applied  to 
him,  and  that  he  promised  to  give  and  did  give 
the  disgraceful  aid  which  was  demanded.  Nay, 
he  did  it  readily  and  with  actual  pleasure. 

This  project  of  Hamilton  spread  profound 
alarm  among  those  of  his  political  friends  who 
had  not  been  personally  engaged  in  the  conflict 
with  the  president,  and  who  therefore  retained 
their  self-possession  and  coolness  of  judgment. 
They  remonstrated  against  the  publication 


320  JOHN  ADAMS. 

with  as  much  earnestness  as  they  ever  dared  to 
show  in  differing  from  their  autocratic  com 
mander.  But  they  had  scant  influence  over 
him.  The  volcano  was  full  to  bursting,  and 
the  pent  up  fury  must  find  vent.  Hamilton 
was  doubtful  only  on  the  point  of  form.  He 
would  have  liked  to  seem  to  write  in  self- 
defense.  In  order  to  obtain  a  plausible  basis, 
he  addressed  a  letter  to  Adams  asking  an  ex 
planation  concerning  charges  of  belonging  to  a 
British  faction,  which  charges  he  was  pleased 
to  say  that  the  president  had  preferred  against 
him.  This  artifice  failed  ;  but  it  was  mere 
matter  of  detail.  Hamilton  was,  as  he  ad 
mitted,  "  in  a  very  belligerent  humor,"  and  was 
bent  on  writing  the  letter,  with  an  excuse  or 
without  it,  as  might  be.  He  would  only  prom 
ise  his  alarmed  and  protesting  friends  that  it 
should  be  privately  and  discreetly  distributed, 
in  such  a  prudent  manner  that  it  should  not 
affect  the  electoral  votes.  His  friends,  uncon 
vinced,  were  still  laboring  with  him,  when  all 
choice  and  discretion  in  the  matter  were  sud 
denly  taken  both  from  him  and  from  them. 
The  document  had  already  been  put  in  print ; 
no  copies  had  been  sent  out ;  but  by  some  cov 
ert  means  Aaron  Burr  had  obtained  one.  By 
this  accident  all  possibility  of  secrecy  came  to 
an  end.  The  paper  was  spread  far  and  wide 


THE  BREAKING    UP.  321 

through  the  country  as  the  best  campaign  doc 
ument  of  the  Democrats,  and  then  at  last  even 
Hamilton  could  no  longer  deny  his  blunder. 

If  before  there  had  been  any  hope  for  a  Fed 
eralist  success,  this  wretched  transaction  ut 
terly  destroyed  it.  The  party  went  into  the 
elections  divided,  dispirited,  full  of  internal  dis 
trust.  New  York  had  already  been  lost ;  and 
the  causa  causans  of  the  loss,  as  Mr.  C.  F. 
Adams  explains,  had  been  the  machinations 
of  Hamilton  intended  to  bring  in  Pinckney 
in  place  of  Adams.  It  required  no  gift  of 
prophecy  now  to  see  that  defeat  was  inevitable. 
It  came ;  but  Jefferson  and  Burr,  coming  in 
evenly  with  only  seventy -three  votes  apiece, 
against  sixty-five  for  Adams  and  sixty-four  for 
Pinckney,1  showed  that  a  contest,  which  under 
such  circumstances  was  so  close,  might  have 
had  an  opposite  conclusion  had  it  been  more 
wisely  and  happily  waged  by  the  Federalists. 
It  was  a  fair  conclusion  that  Mr.  Adams  would 
have  been  reflected  had  it  not  been  for  the 
hostility  of  Mr.  Hamilton  and  his  clique. 

If  Mr.  Adams  as  president  had  served  his 
country  better  than  he  had  served  his  party,  at 
least  one  of  the  latest  acts  of  his  administra 
tion  was  an  equal  service  to  both.  Having  of- 

1  An  elector  from  Rhode  Island  voted  for  Adams  and  Jay, 
instead  of  for  Adams  and  Piuckney. 
21 


322  JOHN  ADAMS. 

fered  the  chief  justiceship  of  the  United  States 
to  Jay,  who  declined  it,  he  then  nominated 
JolrnJ^harshall.  The  Parthian  shot  went  home. 
Half  of  what  the  Democrats  seemed  to  have 
done  by  the  election  of  Jefferson  was  undone 
by  the  appointment  of  Marshall.  JBy  it  the 
Federalists  got  control  of  the  national  judi 
ciary,  and  interpreted  the  constitution  in  the 
courts  long  after  they  had  shrunk  to  utter  in 
significance  as  a  political  party. 

Adams  sat  signing  appointments  to  office 
and  attending  to  business  till  near  the  close  of 
the  last  hour  of  his  term.  Then  before  the 
people  were  astir  on  the  morning  which  ush 
ered  in  the  day  of  Jefferson's  inauguration,  he 
drove  out  of  Washington.  He  would  not  wait 
to  see  the  triumph  of  his  successor.  Mr.  C.  F. 
Adams  seeks  to  throw  a  cloak  of  fine  language 
over  this  act  of  childish  spite  and  folly,  but  to 
no  purpose.  It  was  the  worst  possible  mani 
festation  of  all  those  petty  faults  which  formed 
such  vexatious  blemishes  in  Adams's  singularly 
compounded  character. 

But  it  is  needlessly  cruel  in  this  hour  of  his  bit 
ter  mortification  to  sneer  at  his  silly  egotism,  to 
laugh  at  his  ungoverned  rage.  He  was  crushed 
beneath  an  intense  disappointment  which  he 
did  not  deserve,  he  was  humiliated  by  an  un 
popularity  which  he  did  not  merit.  For  he  had 


THE  BREAKING    UP.  323 

done  right  in  great  national  matters,  and  had 
blundered  only  in  little  personal  ones.  Yet  he 
felt  and  declared  himself  a  "  disgraced  "  man. 
The  word  was  too  strong  ;  yet  certainly  he  was 
an  unfriended,  hated,  and  reviled  man.  He  was 
retiring  full  of  years  but  not  full  of  honors. 
He  had  been  as  faithful,  as  constant,  as  labori 
ous  a  patriot  as  Washington  ;  and,  taking  his 
whole  career  from  the  beginning,  his  usefulness 
to  the  country  had  been  second  only  to  that  of 
Washington.  He  had  lately  done  an  immense 
service  to  his  country  in  saving  it  from  war. 
Had  he  not  a  right  to  repine  and  to  feel  bitter 
at  the  reward  allotted  to  him  ?  Certainly  he 
had  had  very  hard  luck ;  everything  might  have 
gone  so  differently  had  it  not  been  for  the  an 
tipathy  of  a  single  individual  towards  him. 
Had  it  not  been  for  this  he  might  have  had 
real  coadjutors  in  the  members  of  his  cabinet ; 
he  might  have  acted  with  coolness  and  dignity, 
having  his  temper  relieved  from  the  multitudi 
nous  harassment!  which  he  had  felt  though  he 

O 

could  not  explain  them.  He  might  with  a 
clear  mind  have  moulded  and  carried  out  a 
strong,  consistent  policy,  in  an  even-handed 
and  dignified  manner,  which  would  have  made 
it  impossible  for  the  Democrats  to  defeat  him. 
All  this  would  have  been  probable  enough,  if 
the  disturbing  influence  of  Hamilton  had  been 


324  JOHN  ADAMS. 

withdrawn.  To  that  one  man  it  seemed  due, 
and  perhaps  it  really  was  due,  that  Adams  was 
ending  his  public  life  in  humiliation  and  unliap- 
piness. 

This  volume  has  grown  to  such  length  that  a 
few  lines  only  can  be  given  to  Mr.  ^Adanas^re^ 
maining  years.  He  passed  them  in  his  pleas 
ant  homestead  near  the  roadside  in  Quincy, 
among  his  family  and  friends.  They  were  tran 
quil  and  uneventful  to  a  degree  which  must 
often  have  seemed  tedious  to  one  who  had  led 
so  stirring  a  life  in  busy  capitals  amid  great 
events.  Yet  he  seems  in  the  main  to  have  been 
cheerful  and  contented.  The  town  was  full  of 
his  kindred  and  his  friends,  and  he  was  always 
met  with  gratifying  kindliness  and  respect. 
His  wife  survived  until  the  autumn  of  1818, 
when  she  died  of  typhus  fever  on  October  28. 
He  was  then  eighty-three  years  old.  His  son, 
John  Quincy  Adams,  could  be  little  at  home ; 
but  the  cause  of  his  absence,  in  his  steady 
ascent  through  positions  of  public  trust  and 
honor,  must  have  gone  far  to  prevent  regret. 
The  father  had  the  pride  and  pleasure  of  wit 
nessing  his  elevation  to  the  presidency  in  1825, 
and  fortunately  did  not  survive  to  know  of  the 
failure  and  disappointment  four  years  later. 

In  the  main  the  old  gentleman  seems  to  have 
been  cheerful  and  contented ;  though  at  times 


THE  BREAKING    UP.  325 

the  gloominess  so  often  accompanying  old  age 
seemed  to  get  the  better  of  his  courage.  It  was 
in  such  a  temper  that  he  wrote  to  Rufus  King, 
in  1814 :  "  I  am  left  alone.  .  .  .  Can  there  be 
any  deeper  damnation  in  this  universe  than  to 
be  condemned  to  a  long  life  in  danger,  toil, 
and  anxiety ;  to  be  rewarded  only  with  abuse, 
insult,  and  slander;  and  to  die  at  seventy,  leav 
ing  to  an  amiable  wife  and  nine  amiable  chil 
dren  nothing  for  an  inheritance  but  the  con 
tempt,  hatred,  and  malice  of  the  world  ?  How 
much  prettier  a  thing  it  is  to  be  a  disinterested 
patriot  like  Washington  and  Franklin,  live  and 
die  among  the  hosannas  of  the  multitude,  and 
leave  half  a  million  to  one  child  or  to  no  child !  " 
Such  moods  of  repining  at  their  lots,  and  of 
dissatisfaction  with  the  rewards  meted  out  for 
their  services,  were  of  frequent  occurrence 
both  with  John  Adams  and  with  his  son,  John 
Quincy  Adams.  The  same  habit  is  noticeable, 
however,  as  prevailing,  though  in  a  less  degree, 
among  many  of  their  contemporaries  ;  it  was 
the  fashion  of  the  day,  and  may  be  considered 
as  the  New  England  form  of  development  of 
the  famous  habit  of  grumbling  and  fault-find 
ing  notoriously  belonging  to  John  Bull.  At 
least  Mr.  Adams's  high  appreciation  of  his  own 
preeminent  merits  and  distinguished  services 
remained  with  him  to  comfort  and  console  him 


326  JOHN  ADAMS. 

to  the  end.  His  vanity  and  supreme  self-sat 
isfaction  passed  away  only  with  his  passing 
breath. 

He  read  a  great  deal  during  his  old  age,  even 
then  constantly  extending  his  knowledge  and 
preserving  his  native  thirst  for  information  still 
unquenched.  His  interest  in  affairs  was  as 
great  as  ever,  and  he  kept  his  mind  in  activity 
and  vigor.  At  times  he  fought  the  old  battles 
o'er  again  with  not  less  spirit  than  in  younger 
days.  His  first  purpose  after  his  retirement 
was  to  write  a  vindicatory  reply  to  Hamilton's 
tirade  against  him ;  but  his  zeal  cooled  during 
the  work  so  that  he  never  finished  it.  Then 
he  began  an  autobiography,  but  this  too  he  left 
in  the  shape  of  a  mere  fragment.  When  John 
Quincy  Adams,  unable  to  stomach  the  increas 
ing  British  aggressions  at  the  time  of  the  at 
tack  by  the  Leopard  upon  the  Chesapeake,  sev 
ered  his  connection  with  the  feeble  remnant  of 
the  Federal  party,  John  Adams  was  in  full 
sympathy  with  him.  Pickering  published  a 
pamphlet  arraigning  the  administration,  and 
Adams  replied  to  it,  actually  appearing  as  the 
supporter  of  President  Jefferson's  policy.  This 
tergiversation,  as  his  enemies  chose  to  regard 
it,  greatly  incensed  the  old  Hamiltonians,  who 
now  hastened  to  revamp  the  charges  contained 
in  Hamilton's  letter.  The  spirit  of  the  old 


THE  BREAKING    UP.  327 

fighter  was  aroused,  and  he  recurred  to  his  de 
sign  of  an  elaborate  defense.  He  entered  upon 
it  with  little  appreciation  of  the  extent  to  which 
his  labors  would  extend.  For  after  he  had 
once  got  fairly  at  the  interesting  work  he  could 
not  easily  check  himself,  and  his  letters  to  the 
"  Boston  Patriot  "  were  continued  through  a 
period  of  nearly  three  years,  and  a  portion  of 
them,  published  in  book  form,  constituted  an 
octavo  volume  of  goodly  proportions.  These 
letters  are  not  reproduced  in  Mr.  C.  F.  Adams's 
edition  of  the  works  of  John  Adams  ;  indeed 
the  grandson  appears  inclined  to  regret  that 
they  ever  saw  the  light,  at  least  in  the  manner 
and  shape  in  which  they  did,  "  scattered 
through  the  pages  of  a  newspaper  of  very  lim 
ited  circulation,  during  three  years,  without 
order  in  the  arrangement,  and  with  most  un 
fortunate  typography."  It  is  not  surprising  to 
hear  that  they  were  marked  with  utoo  much 
asperity  towards  Mr.  Hamilton." 

But  a  much  more  unfortunate  composition 
was  the  famous  Cunningham  correspondence, 
which  also  Mr.  C.  F.  Adams  declines  to  repub- 
lish,  and  very  properly  under  the  peculiar  cir 
cumstances,  which  he  states.  These  were  writ 
ten  by  the  ex-president  to  one  of  his  relatives 
soon  after  his  return  to  Quincy.  They  were 
"  under  the  seal  of  the  strictest  confidence,"  and 


328  JOHN  ADAMS. 

contained  "the  most  unreserved  expression  of 
his  sentiments  respecting  the  chief  actors  and 
events  in  the  later  portion  of  his  public  life." 
In  other  words,  they  were  vehement,  rancorous, 
abusive,  and  unjust,  as  was  perfectly  natural 
when  it  is  remembered  under  what  fresh  provo 
cation  of  real  wrongs  their  writer  was  smarting 
at  the  time.  His  vanity  and  his  rage  naturally 
found  free  expression  as  he  strove  in  close  con 
fidence  to  tell  to  a  friend  the  story  of  the  un 
fair  treatment  of  which  he  had  been  the  vic 
tim.  Mr.  C.  F.  Adams  says  that  an  heir  of  the 
person  to  whom  these  letters  were  written  gave 
them  to  the  opponents  of  John  Quincy  Adams 
to  be  used  against  him  when  he  was  a  candi 
date  in  the  presidential  campaign  ;  and  that 
this  ignominious  transaction  was  rewarded  with 
a  post  in  the  Boston  custom-house.  It  was  of 
course  a  great  mistake  upon  Adams's  part  that 
he  wrote  them,  and  it  was  a  grave  misfortune 
for  him  that  they  were,  even  though  dishonora 
bly  and  many  years  afterwards,  sent  out  before 
the  world.  It  was  the  last  and  nearly  the  worst 
exhibition  of  that  blind  imprudence  which  at 
one  time  and  another  in  his  career  had  cost 
him  so  dear.  But  he  could  not  eliminate  or 
control  the  trait ;  in  fact  he  never  fairly  appre 
ciated  its  existence  ;  throughout  his  life  he  was 
invariably  convinced  that  all  his  own  actions 


THE  BREAKING    UP.  329 

were  perfectly  right  and  wise ;  he  was  always 
a  strenuous  and  undoubting  partisan  of  himself, 
so  to  speak. 

In  his  declining  years  he  had  some  flattering 
public  honors  done  him  by  his  fellow-citizens,  of 
a  kind  to  bring  more  of  pleasure  than  of  labor. 
He  was  appointed  a  presidential  elector,  and 
cast  his  vote  for  James  Monroe  at  the  second 
election  of  that  gentleman  to  the  presidency. 
He  was  also,  at  the  age  of  eighty-five,  chosen 
the  delegate  from  Braintree  to  the  constitu 
tional  convention  of  Massachusetts,  at  the  time 
when,  Maine  being  set  off,  it  was  deemed  ad 
visable  to  frame  a  new  constitution.  The  body 
paid  him  the  compliment  of  choosing  him  to 
preside  over  its  deliberations  ;  but  he  wisely 
declined  a  labor  beyond  his  strength.  He  took 
no  active  part  in  the  debates  ;  but  it  should  be 
remembered  to  his  honor  that  he  endeavored 
to  procure  such  a  modification  of  the  third  ar 
ticle  of  the  bill  of  rights  "  as  would  do  away 
with  the  recognition  of  distinct  modes  of  relig 
ious  faith  by  the  state."  It  is  to  the  discredit 
of  his  fellow  delegates  that  in  this  good  pur 
pose  he  was  unsuccessful.  The  aged  man  could 
only  put  himself  upon  record  as  more  liberal, 
more  advanced  in  wisdom  and  in  a  broad  hu 
manity,  than  the  men  of  the  younger  genera 
tion  around  him. 


B30  JOHN  ADAMS. 

Before  he  died  nearly  all  his  old  animosities 
had  entirely  disappeared,  or  had  lost  their  vir 
ulence.  Hamilton  and  Pickering  he  could 
never  forgive  ;  such  magnanimity,  it  must  be 
admitted,  would  have  been  beyond  human  na 
ture.  But  he  became  very  friendly  with  Jef 
ferson.  Some  advances  towards  reconciliation, 
made  by  his  old  enemy  through  Mrs.  Adams, 
he  rejected.  But  later  Dr.  Rush  was  success 
ful  in  bringing  the  two  together,  so  that  a 
friendly  correspondence  was  carried  on  between 
them  during  their  closing  years. 

His  mind  remained  clear  almost  to  his  last 
hours.  He  died  at  sunset  on  the  fourth  day  of 
July,  1826^  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  Amer 
ican  independence.  The  familar  story  goes 
that  his  last  words  were,  "Thomas  Jefferson 
still  survives."  But  Jefferson  too  had  passed 
away  a  few  hours  earlier  on  that  day. 


INDEX. 


ADAMS,  C.  F.,  quoted,  as  to  appoint 
ment  of  Washington,  98  ;  as  to 
proposition  for  a  navy,  110;  as  to 
services  of  John  Adams  in  draw 
ing  Declaration  of  Independence. 
126;  as  to  John  Adams's  relation 
with  Washington,  137  ;  treatment 
of  French  relationship  with  the 
colonies,  157  ;  quoted,  as  to  John 
Adams's  correspondence  with  de 
Vergennes  on  financial  matters, 
175 ;  on  same  subject,  178 ;  quoted, 
as  to  Adams's  visit  to  Amsterdam, 
191 ;  quoted,  as  to  the  treaty  with 
Holland,  196  ;  as  to  mission  of 
Digges,  213;  account  of  presenta 
tion  of  John  Adams  to  George 
111.,  233;  says  McIIenry  repre 
sents  his  colleagues  and  Hamil 
ton  as  to  failure  of  French  mis 
sion,  283  ;  quoted,  as  to  prepara 
tion  of  a  message  by  the  cabinet 
and  Hamilton  for  Mr.  Adams, 
294  ;  vindicates  the  final  mission 
to  France,  298  ;  on  nomination  of 
Vans  Murray,  302  ;  remarks  on 
the  resignation  of  McIIenry  and 
dismissal  of  Pickering,  314  ;  de 
fends  John  Adams's  conduct  at 
the  close  of  his  presidential  term, 
322;  declines  to  republish  the 
letters  to  "  The  Boston  Patriot," 
and  the  Cunningham  letters,  327, 
328. 

Adams,  Henry,  first  of  the  name  in 
America,  1 ,  his  property,  2. 

Adams,  John,  birth  and  parentage, 
1  ;  goes  to  Harvard  College,  2  ; 
social  rank,  3;  aristocratic  ten 
dencies,  3;  begins  his  diary,  5; 
character  in  youth,  6-10;  chooses 
a  profession,  eschewing  the  min 
istry  for  the  bar,  10-16 ;  his  stud 
ies,  relaxations,  and  admission  to 


the  bar,  17;  marries,  20;  a  typi 
cal  New  Englander,  20-23  :  hears 
Otis  speak  concerning  writs  of 
assistance.  24 ;  behavior  at  time 
of  stamp  act,  26-28 ;  appointed 
counsel  for  Boston,  28-32:  lan 
guage  in  Hancock's  case,  32;  po 
sition  as  a  patriot,  32,  34,  35,  43  ; 
removal  to  Boston,  33;  is  offered 
place  of  advocate-general  in  ad 
miralty,  33;  connection  with  the 
Boston  massacre  and  the  trials  of 
Preston  and  the  soldiery,  35-40; 
elected  to  the  General  Court,  40 ; 
dislike  to  public  career,  40-42, 
45,  50;  bad  health  and  removal  to 
Braintree,  42;  comes  back  again 
to  Boston,  45 ;  taunted  by  Otis, 
46  ;  his  real  position  at  this  time, 
47-51;  project  for  a  history,  51; 
opinion  of  the  prospect,  52-54  ; 
representative  to  the  First  Con 
gress,  53-55  ;  his  qualifications 
and  his  own  feelings,  54-62 ;  let 
ters  to  his  wife,  62 ;  journey  to 
Philadelphia,  63-6S ;  opinion  of 
New  York,  67;  gets  some  good 
advice,  65-68 ;  his  daily  life  and 
his  comrades,  69,  78-80 ;  opin 
ions  on  non-importation  and  non- 
exportation,  70;  services  on  com 
mittees,  71;  his  behavior  and 
sentiments  as  to  the  members 
and  the  doings  of  Congress,  73-80 ; 
anticipations  of  result,  78:  dele 
gate  to  the  provincial  assembly 
of  Massachusetts,  82 ;  writes  let 
ters  of  "Novanglus,"'  82;  rides 
over  the  field  of  Lexington,  83; 
returns  to  Philadelphia,  83;  has 
the  sympathy  of  his  own  and 
his  wife's  families,  84  ;  comical 
sketch  of  Dickinson,  84 ;  observa 
tions  concerning  public  opinion 


332 


INDEX. 


along  the  route  to  Philadelphia, 
84,  85;  military  aspirations,  85; 
remarks  on  the  temper  of  Con 
gress,  87;  his  prominence  in  that 
body,  88  ;  his  opposition  to  Dick 
inson,  88,  91 ;  his  own  sketch  of 
his  views  at  this  time,  89-91 ;  ef 
forts  to  induce  Congress  to  adopt 
the  army,  93-100;  his  share  in 
the  appointment  of  Washington, 
95-100;  his  intercepted  letters  to 
his  wife  and  to  General  Warren, 
100-103,  105  ;  spends  August, 
1775,  at  his  home,  104  ;  returns 
to  Congress  in  September,  104  ; 
dissatisfied  with  temper  of  Con- 
-*— ^jress,  104-107 ;  his  own  devotion 
to  the  cause  of  independence,  105- 
107,  115-119  ;  daily  occupations, 

107  ;  harsh  criticisms  of  members, 

108  ;    services   in  establishing  a 
navy,  110  ;    efforts    to    organize 
foreign  missions,   111  ;    visit  to 
Massachusetts,    112  ;     appointed 
chief  justice  of  the  province,  113; 
returns,   bringing   important  in 
structions   to   the   Massachusetts 
delegation,     113   ;     fort-castings, 
114  et  seq.  ;  introduces  a  resolu 
tion  that  the  states  organize  in 
dependent  governments,  120-123: 
seconds  Lee's  motimi  for  the  dec 
laration     of   independence,   124  ; 
placed  on  committee  to  draw  the 
document,  124  ;  his  actual  services 
in  that  connection,  125-127;   on 
committee    for   foreign    treaties, 
124 ;  on  the  board  of  war  and  ord 
nance,  125 ;  share  in  the  debate 

•;on    the  declaration  of  independ 
ence,   127-129  ;    letter   to    Chase 
on  probable  consequences  of  the 
declaration,  130  ;   his  real  value 
as  compared  with  Washington,  in 
Revolution,  131  et  seq. ,-  letter 
to    Pickering   as   to   jealousy  to- 
v    wards  Now  England,  135:  his  dis- 
\trustaud  jealousy  towards  Wash 
ington,  13(3-138;    services  in  the 
formation  of  the  new  state  gov 
ernments,;  138-143  ;    opinion   of 
Paine's   "Common  Sense,"   140; 
writes  the  .pamphlet,  "  Thoughts 
N.      on    Government,''     140  ;     letter 
^  to  Patrick  Henry  on  this  topic, 

142  ;    services    during    the    last 
portion  of  his  stay  in  Congress, 

143  -  145 ;    resignation,   146  ;   ap 
pointed     commissioner     to     the 
French  court,  147  ;  embarkation, 


148  ;  services  in  France  and  ad 
vice  to  Congress,  149-152;  return, 
153;  opinions  as  to  France  and 
England,  153-155  ;  member  of  the 
Constitutional  Convention  of 
Massachusetts,  156;  again  sent 
to  France  to  negotiate  peace 
with  Great  Britain,  156,  161 ;  his 
early  sentiments  towards  France 
and  de  Yergennes,  159  ;  appointed 
largely  through  influence  of 
Massachusetts,  in  order  to  pre 
serve  the  fisheries,  163;  original 
opinions  on  this  subject,  164  ; 
qualifications  as  a  diplomatist, 
165-168  ;  relations  with  Franklin, 
169 ;  first  letter  to  de  Vergennes, 
169  ;  indignation  at  dc  Vergennes' 
reply,  170  ;  disagrees  with  de 
Vergennes,  170-172  ;  procures 
publication  of  the  purpose  of  his 
mission,  172 ;  without  occupation, 
173 ;  writes  articles  for  French 
newspapers  concerning  America, 
173  ;  enters  on  correspondence 
with  de  Vergennes,  174  :  irritates 
de  Vergennes  by  his  communica 
tions  concerning  proposed  repu 
diation  of  debts  in  the  States, 
175-181  ;  unpleasant  relations 
with  Franklin,  180-183  ;  letter 
to  de  Vergennes  asking  for  more 
sincere  assistance,  etc.,  183; 
second  irritating  letter  to  de 
Vergennes,  187 ;  sustained  by 
Congress,  189;  visit  to  Amster 
dam,  190  ;  new  commission  as  to 
"armed  neutrality,"  191  ;  ap 
pointed  minister  plenipotentiary 
to  the  United  Provinces,  191 :  is 
obstructed  by  de  Vergennes,  192, 
193;  his  policy  and  its  success, 
192-196;  recognized  as  minister 
at  the  Hague,  1^6;  effects  a  treaty 
with  Holland,  196 ,  views  as  to 
behavior  of  the  British  govern 
ment  towards  the  close  of  the 
Revolution,  and  as  to  the  pros 
pects,  198-201 ;  summoned  from 
Holland  to  Paris,  in  hope  of  a 
negotiation  for  peace,  203 ;  disin 
genuously  treated  by  de  Ver 
gennes  204  ;  but  detects  the 
snare,  206 ;  his  recall  sought  by 
de  Vergennes,  207  ;  has  others 
associated  with  him  in  commis 
sion  to  treat  for  peace,  209  ;  angry 
at  the  instructions  concerning  the 
treaty,  210;  sustains  Jay's  ob 
jections  to  proposed  form  of  ne- 


INDEX. 


333 


gotiation,  and  suggests  amend 
ment,  216  ;  letter  to  .lackson  on 
French  policy,  21'.);  di-oheys  in 
structions  in  the  negotiation  for 
peace,  219 :  proposal  concerning 
compensation  to  tories,  220  ;  as  to 
the  fisheries,  221  ;  rebuked  by  Liv 
ingston,  224  ;  indignation  thereat, 
225  ;  homesick,  226  ;  illness,  22-; : 
obliged  to  go  to  Amsterdam  con 
cerning  loans, 230;  commissioned 
to  form  treaties  of  commerce, 
280  ;  residence  at  Auteuil,  231 ; 
appointed  minister  to  Great  Brit 
ain,  231  :  presentation  to  the 
king,  233  ;  finds  his  residence  in 
England  disagreeable,  234-239  ; 
returns  home,  239  ;  reflections  on 
his  future,  241 ;  his  relations  to 
the  new  constitution,  244  ;  elec 
tion  to  the  vice-presidency,  245  ; 
beginning  of  quarrel  with  Ham 
ilton,  246  ;  takes  his  seat  as  pres 
ident  of  the  senate,  248;  influ 
ence  and  casting  votes,  249  ;  a 
Federalist,  250  ;  democratic  and 
aristocratic  tendencies  in  his  char 
acter,  251 ;  fondness  for  ceremony 
and  dignity,  252-254;  subjected 
to  personal  attacks,  254 ;  reflected 
vice-president,  255  :  sympathy 
for  U'ashington,  256;  Federalist 
candidate  for  the  presidency,  258  ; 
story  of  his  election,  258-261  ; 
expresses  his  anger  to  Knox,  263  ; 
inauguration,  266;  conciliatory 
advances  of  Democrats,  266-268 ; 
hi*  administration,  268-270;  situ 
ation  between  the  English  and 
French  factions,  271-273;  retains 
Washington's  cabinet,  274  ;  rela 
tions  with  them,  274-277,  311- 
312 ;  summons  extra  session  of 
Congress  concerning  relations 
with  France,  277  ;  speech,  278 ; 
desire  for  a  navy,  279  ;  scheme 
for  a  new  mission  to  France,  277, 
280 ;  suggests  an  embargo,  282 ; 
consults  cabinet  as  to  course  to  be 
pursued  if  the  French  mission 
should  fail,  282  ;  messages  to 
Congress  communicating  failure 
of  the  mission,  234  ;  receives  pop 
ular  support,  286  ;  recalls  Gerry, 
286  ;  sends  famous  messages  to 
Congress,  287 ;  signs  alien  and 
sedition  acts,  287  ;  nomination  of 
officers  for  the  new  army  and 
consequent  difficulties  with  Ham 
ilton,  288-291 ;  consults  his  cabi 


net  and  amends  the  speech  pre 
pared  for  him  to  send  in  to  Con 
gress  concerning  French  rela 
tions,  293-298  :  gets  further  news 
through  Vans  Murray,  298;  nom 
inates  Vans  Murray  minister  to 
France,  30»>  :  visited  by  the  com 
mittee  of  the  senate  on  nomina 
tions,  301 ;  nominates  two  others 
witli  Vans  Murray,  3u2 ;  goes 
home  to  Quincy,  3(')3  :  rotun  -  r>> 
meet  his  cabinet  at  Trenton, v>4  ; 
solicited  to  delay,  3' 4,  3<io;  but 
orders  the  envoys  to  sail,  3  '"> :  In 
dus  acvimi  divides  the  Federalist 
partv,  305;  relationship  to  that 
party,  306-308  ;  subsequently  de- 
fen. U  his  doings  about  the  French 
mission,  3''9  ;  ill-served  bv  his 
cabinet,  311-313;  forces  Mcllenry 
to  resign,  313  ;  dismisses  Picker 
ing,  314  ;  fills  the  vacancies  with 
Miirshall  and  Dexter,  313,  314  ; 
relations  with  Wolcott,  whom  he 
appoints  a  judge,  315  :  malicious 
reports  about  Pickering's  dis 
missal,  315 ;  assailed  for  having 
pardoned  Fries,  316  :  desire  for 
reelection,  316 ;  hated  by  the 
Ilamiltonians,  317  ;  their  machi 
nations  against  him,  317-321 ;  de 
feated,  32t;  his  disappointment 
and  departure  from  Washington , 
322;  retirement  to  Quincy,  324; 
occasional  despondency,  325;  oc 
cupations,  326  ;  sustains  John 
Quincy  Adams  in  his  defection 
from  the  Federal  party,  326 ;  re 
plies  to  an  assault  by  Pickering, 
and  sustains  Jefferson,  326:  writes 
a  series  of  letters  to  "  The  Boston 
Patriot,''  327  :  also  the  Cunning 
ham  letters,  327;  as  presidential 
elector,  votes  for  Monroe.  329  ;  a 
delegate  to  the  Constitutional 
Convention  of  Massachusetts, 
329;  reconciliation  with  Jeffer 
son,  330;  death,  330. 

Adams,  Mrs.  John,  joins  her  hus 
band  at  Auteuil,  231  ;  feelings 
concerning  the  English  mission, 
233;  remark  about  Hamilton's 
Machiavellian  policy,  267  ;  death, 
324. 

Adams.  John  Quincy,  describes  his 
father's  social  position,  o:  diary 
of,  5  ;  sustained  by  his  father  in 
leaving  the  Federal  party,  326. 

Adams,  Samuel,   representative   in 
;      First  Congress,  53,  63  ;  concern- 


334 


INDEX. 


ing  the  adoption  of  the  army  by 
Congress,  95. 

Adams,  Thomas,  grantee  in  first 
Massachusetts  charter,  1. 

Ames,  Fisher,  advises  Adams  con 
cerning  French  mission,  277. 

"BOSTON  MASSACRE,"  story  of  the, 
35-40. 

Bowdoin,  James,  chosen  represen 
tative  to  First  Congress,  53  ;  de 
clines,  63,  n. 

Boylston,  Susanna,  mother  of  John 
Adams,  1. 

Burr,  Aaron,  publishes  Hamilton's 
pamphlet  against  Adams,  320 ;  has 
seventy-three  electoral  votes,  321. 

CHASE,  SAMUEL,  letter  of  Adams  to, 
130. 

Clinton,  George,  unsuccessful  com 
petitor  with  Adams  for  vice-presi 
dency,  255. 

Con  way,  General,  moves  address 
against  Lord  North,  213. 

Cushing,  Thomas,  chosen  repre 
sentative  to  First  Congress,  53, 
63  ;  concerning  the  appointment 
of  Washington,  96. 

DANA,  FRANCIS,  nominated  com 
missioner  to  France,  and  declines, 
281. 

Davie,  Governor,  nominated  an  en 
voy  to  France,  302 ;  departure, 


Deane,  Silas,  as  commissioner  at 
the  French  court,  148,  150. 

Dexter,  Samuel,  appointed  secre 
tary  at  war,  315. 

Dickinson,  John,  domestic  influ 
ences  exerted  upon,  84 ;  opposed 
by  Adams,  88,  91 ;  a  "  piddling 
genius,''  102  ;  opposes  Declara 
tion  of  Independence,  127. 

Digges,  mission  to  American  com 
missioners,  213. 

Dorset,  Earl  of,  remark  to  Mr.  Ad 
ams  on  his  appointment  to  Eng 
lish  mission,  232. 

Duane,  James,  a  moderatist,  121. 

ELLSWORTH,  OLIVER,  nominated  an 
envoy  to  France.  302  ;  departure, 
305. 

Fox,  CHARLES  J., minister  of  foreign 
affairs,  213  ;  quarrel  with  Lord 
Shelburne,  214. 

Franklin,    Benjamin,    member    of 


committee  to  draw  Declaration  of 
Independence,  124 ;  as  commis 
sioner  at  the  French  court,  148, 
150,  152,  168  ;  mode  of  life  in 
France,  169 ;  relations  with  Ad 
ams,  16i),  181-183 ;  indifferent  to 
Adams's  interference  in  his  de 
partment,  174  ;  but  is  vexed  in  the 
matter  of  Adams's  correspond 
ence  with  de  Vergennes  about 
proposed  repudiation  of  indebt 
edness  by  the  states,  179,  180; 
enmity  towards  Adams,  181-183  ; 
writes  to  Congress  concerning 
Adams,  189  ;  associated  with 
Adams  on  the  peace  commission, 
209  ;  feeling  concerning  the  in 
structions,  210 ,  private  letter  to 
Lord  Shelburne,  213  ;  refuses  to 
support  Jay's  objections  to  pro 
posed  form  of  negotiation,  216; 
wishes  to  adhere  to  instructions 
in  the  peace  negotiation,  219; 
commissioner  to  form  treaties  of 
commerce,  230. 
Fries,  pardon  of,  316. 

GENET,  EDMOND,  mission  to  United 
States,  256. 

George  III.,  remark  to  Mr.  Adams 
on  his  presentation,  233;  subse 
quent  behavior  to  him,  234. 

Gerard,  Mons.  de,  suggests  readi 
ness  of  England  to  negotiate, 
160  ;  efforts  concerning  Adams's 
instructions,  163;  report  thereon 
to  de  Vergennes,  171  ;  insidious 
suggestions  at  Philadelphia,  207. 

Gerry,  Elbridge,  accompanies  Ad 
ams  to  Philadelphia,  January, 
1776,  bearing  instructions  to  Mas 
sachusetts  delegation,  113;  Ad 
ams's  letter  to,  concerning  his 
cabinet,  276  ;  nominated  as  com 
missioner  to  France,  280,  281  ; 
his  doings  abroad,  282;  recalled, 
286;  relations  with  Talleyrand, 
292. 

Gordon's  "  History  of  Independ 
ence,"  quoted.  56,  n. 

Gridley,  Jeremiah,  advice  to  Ad 
ams  on  presenting  him  for  ad" 
mission  to  the  bar,  17 ;  counsel 
for  Boston  at  time  of  stamp  act, 


HAMILTON,  ALEXANDER,  behavior 
concerning  Adams's  election  to 
vice-presidency,  246  ;  devises  Fed 
eralist  measures,  249 ;  favors  Ad- 


INDEX. 


335 


ama's  second  election,  255  ;  influ 
ence  at  time  of  Adams's  election  to 
the  presidency,  257-261  ;  charged 
with  secret  ill-faith  towards  Ad 
ams,  2i>7 ;  relations  with  cabinet 
officers  of  Washington  and  Adams, 
275 ;  compels  cabinet  to  assent  to 
new  mission  to  France,  281;  in 
stigates  a  call  for  papers  concern 
ing  the  French  mission,  284  ; 
quarrel  concerning  rank  in  the  I 
provisional  army,  289-291 ;  shares 
in  a  consultation  with  members 
of  Adams's  cabinet  as  to  policy  to 
wards  France  and  a  new  mission, 
294 ;  action  concerning  the  nom 
ination  of  Vans  Murray,  302 ; 
claim  of,  to  leadership  of  the 
Federal  party,  306-308;  political 
journey  through  New  England, 
317  ;  admits  that  Adams  must  be 
Federalist  candidate  for  the  pres 
idency,  318  ;  prepares  pamphlet 
against  Adams,  319-320. 

Hancock,  John,  sued  for  duties, 
32  ;  desirous  to  command  the 
army,  96. 

Hawley,  Joseph,  advice  to  Adams, 
65. 

Henry,  Patrick,  in  favor  of  foreign 
alliances,  112 ;  letter  of  Adams  to, 
142  ;  nominated  an  envoy  to 
France,  302. 

Hildreth,  Richard,  remarks  on  Ad 
ams's  relations  to  English  and 
French  factions,  273. 

Hutchinson,  Governor,  at  time  of  \ 
stamp  act,  26,  27 ;  at  time  of  the 
"Boston  Massacre,"  36. 

JACKSON,  JONATHAN,  letters  of  Ad-  i 
ams  to,  193,  219. 

Jay,  Sir  James,  takes  care  of  Adams  i 
during  illness  in  London,  229. 

Jay,  John,  desired  by  New  York  as 
negotiator  for  peace,  164 ;  but  goes 
to  Madrid,  164;  associated  with 
Adams  and  others  to  treat  for 
peace,  209;  indignant  at  the  in 
structions  given,  211 ;  objects  to 
scheme  of  negotiation,  as  con 
cerned  the  states,  215;  sustained 
by  Mr.  Adams,  215,  218  ;  rebuked 
by  Livingston,  224;  reply  to  re 
buke,  225;  charged  with  secret 
ill-faith  towards  Adams,  267 ;  de 
clines  the  chief  justiceship,  322. 

Jefferson, Thomas,  on  committee  to 
draw  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence,  124-127 ;  takes  110  share  in 


debate,  127;  gratitude  to  Adams, 
128 ;  placed  on  the  peace  com 
mission,  209:  commissioner  to 
form  treaties  of  commerce,  230  ; 
insulted  by  George  III.,  234; 
elected  vice-president,  260  ;  con 
ciliatory  letter  to  Adams,  2»>7 ; 
remark  as  to  Adams's  impartial 
ity  between  English  and  French 
factious,  273  ;  consulted  by 
Adams  as  to  French  mission, 
277;  gets  seventy-three  electoral 
votes,  321;  administration  sus 
tained  by  Adams,  326  ;  recon 
ciliation  with  Adams,  330  j  death, 
330. 

Johnson,  Thomas,  nominates  Wash 
ington  to  command  the  army, 
97. 

KINO,  RUFUS,  letter  to,  325. 
Kuox,  lienry,  nominated  as  general 
of  the  provisional  army,  289. 

LEE,  ARTHUR,  as  commissioner  at 
the  French  court,  148,  150;  sent 
to  Madrid,  152. 

Lee,  Richard  Henry,  moves  Declara 
tion  of  Independence,  124. 

Livingston,  R.  R.,  member  of  com 
mittee  to  draft  Declaration  of 
Independence,  124  ;  rebukes  the 
commissioners  treating  for  peace 
with  England,  224. 

Luzerne,  de  la,  seeks  to  bring  about 
the  recall  of  Mr.  Adams,  208; 
influences  the  instructions  to  the 
peace  commissioners,  210. 

MADISON,  JAMES,  holds  back  Jeffer 
son's  letter  to  Adams,  267 :  de 
clines  the  French  mission,  277. 

Marshall,  John,  nominated  as  com 
missioner  to  France,  280,  281 ;  his 
doings  abroad  and  his  return, 
282, 286  ;  made  secretary  of  state, 
314,  315  ;  appointed  chief  justice, 
322. 

"  Massachusettensis,"  letters  of,  82. 

McDougall,  gives  Adams  some  ad 
vice,  66. 

McHenry,  James,  secretary  at  war, 
274  ;  relations  \\ith  \Vashington, 
Hamilton,  and  Adams,  275  ;  ex 
presses  views  of  his  colleagues 
and  of  Hamilton  as  to  course  to 
be  pursued  on  failure  of  French 
mission,  283 ;  subservience  to 
Hamilton  and  enmity  to  Adams, 
311  ;  forced  by  Adams  to  resign, 


336 


INDEX. 


313 ;  aids  Hamilton  in  preparing 
his  pamphlet  against  Adams,  319. 

Monroe,  James,  as  minister  to 
France,  274  ;  Adams's  reference 
to  his  leave-taking,  278 ;  voted 
for  by  Adams  as  presidential 
elector,  329. 

Morris,  Gouverneur,  as  minister  to 
France,  273. 

Murray,  Vans,  medium  of  advances 
on  part  of  Talleyrand  to  the 
United  States,  293,  298 ;  nomi 
nated  as  minister  to  France,  3. iO; 
objections  to  him,  300-302  ;  but, 
joined  with  two  others,  is  con 
firmed,  303. 

NORTH,  LORD,  resigns,  213. 
"  Novanglus,"  letters  of,  82. 

OSWALD,  RICHARD,  emissary  of  Shel- 
burne  to  Paris,  213  ;  receives  com 
mission  to  treat  for  peace,  214  ; 
his  part  in  the  negotiations,  216, 
218. 

Otis,  .lames,  speech  on  writs  of  as 
sistance,  24 ;  counsel  for  Boston 
at  time  of  stamp  act,  28  ;  taunts 
Adams  with  lukewarmness,  46. 

PAINE,  ROBERT  TREAT,  chosen  repre 
sentative  in  First  Congress,  53,  63. 

Paine,  Thomas,  publishes  "  Com 
mon  Sense,"  140. 

Pickering,  Timothy,  letter  of  Ad 
ams  to,  as  to  jealousy  towards 
New  England,  135  ;  charged  with 
secret  ill  faith  towards  Adams, 
26tf ;  secretary  of  state,  274  ;  re 
lations  with  AVashington,  Hamil 
ton,  and  Adams,  275;  opposes 
a  new  mission  to  France  after 
Pinckney's  non-reception,  281 ; 
concern  in  the  question  as  to 
rank  of  generals  in  the  provi 
sional  army,  290 ;  consulted  by 
Adams  as  to  still  another  French 
mission,  293;  wrath  at  nomina 
tion  of  Vans  Murray,  300 ;  dis 
patch  to  Vans  Murray  for  Tal 
leyrand,  303;  letter  to  Adams, 
suggesting  delay,  304 ;  subservi 
ence  to  Hamilton  and  enmity  to 
Adams,  311 ;  dismissed  from  the 
cabinet,  314 ;  aids  Hamilton  in 
preparing  his  pamphlet  against 
Adams,  319;  late  in  life  publishes 
a  pamphlet  arraigning  Adams's 
administration,  326. 

Pinckney,   General   C.   C.,   sent  as 


minister  to  France,  274 ;  but  not 
received  there,  277  ;  renominated, 
280  ;  further  doings  abroad,  282 ; 
nominated  as  general  in  the  pro 
visional  army,  289 ;  in  consulta 
tion  with  cabinet  ministers  as  to 
new  mission  to  France,  294  ;  plans 
for  putting  him  in  over  Adams,  as 
president,  318 ;  gets  sixty-four 
electoral  votes,  321. 

Pinckney,  Thomas,  candidate  on 
ticket  with  Adams  for  presidency 
and  vice-presidency,  258, 261 ;  Ad 
ams's  valuation  of,  263. 

Preston.  Captain,  trial  of,  3'3-40 

QUINCY,  JOSIAH,  JR., associate  coun 
sel  in  trials  of  Captain  Preston 
and  the  British  soldiers,  37. 

ROCKINGHAM,  Marquis  of,  becomes 
prime  minister,  213  ;  dies,  214. 

SEDGWICK,  THEODORE,  letter  to  Ham 
ilton  on  nomination  of  Vans  Mur 
ray,  300  :  with  his  committee  on 
nominations,  visits  the  president, 
301. 

SeAvall,  Jonathan,  offers  Adams 
post  of  advocate-general  in 
courts  of  admiralty,  33. 

Shelburne,  Lord,  correspondence 
with  Franklin,  213  ;  quarrel  with 
Fox, 214 ;  subsequent  conduct  of 
the  negotiations  for  peace,  216. 

Sherman,  Roger,  member  of  com 
mittee  to  draft  a  Declaration  of 
Independence,  124. 

Smith,  Abigail,  marries  John  Ad 
ams,  20. 

Strachey,  Mr.,  aids  Mr.  Oswald  in 
negotiations  for  peace,  218  ;  jour 
ney  to  London  as  to  fisheries, 
220. 

TALLEYRAND,  efforts  to  corrupt  the 
American  envoys,  282,285  ;  vexa 
tion  at  discovery  of  his  duplicity, 
and  efforts  to  renew  negotiations, 
292,  293,  298;  gives  assurances 
required  by  Adams  concerning 
treatment  of  American  envoys, 


VAUGUYON,  Due  de,  interferes  with 
Adams's  labors  in  Holland,  193; 
gives  an  entertainment  in  Ad 
ams's  honor,  196. 

Vergennes,  Count  de ;  character, 
167-169;  his  purposes  and  his 


INDEX. 


337 


consequent  influence  On  Mr.  Ad 
ams's  instructions,  161-163 ;  reply 
to  Adams;s  first  letter,  170 ;  re 
quires  secrecy  as  to  purport  of 
Adams's  mission,  171;  vexed  by 
Mr.  Adams's  communications  as 
to  proposed  repudiation  of  indebt 
edness  by  the  states,  175-181 ; 
accused  by  Adams  of  unfriendly 
conspiracy  with  Franklin  against 
him,  182  ;  administers  severe  re 
buke  in  reply  to  a  letter  from 
Adams,  185 ;  and  a  still  severer 
one  to  a  later  communication, 
188 ;  obstructs  Adams's  labors 
in  Holland,  192,  193;  conceals 
from  Adams  some  points  in  pro 
posed  negotiation  for  peace,  204  ; 
endeavors  to  get  Adams  recalled, 
207 ;  shapes  the  instructions  to 
the  peace  commissioners,  210 ; 
refuses  to  support  Jay's  objec 
tions  to  proposed  form  of  negoti 
ation,  216  ;  aids  England  in  the 
peace  negotiations,  217 ;  assails 
the  American  commissioners  for 
their  conduct  in  the  peace  nego 
tiations,  222 ;  remark  to  Mr.  Ad 
ams  on  his  appointment  to  Eng 
lish  mission,  231. 

WARREN,  JAMES,  letters  of  Adams 


to,  65, 60, 75 ;  Adams's  intercepted 
letter  to,  101,  102. 

Washington,  George,  wears  his  uni 
form  in  Congress,  85 ;  story  of  his 
appointment  to  command  the 
army,  95-97  ;  value  of,  as  com 
pared  with  John  Adams,  in  the 
Revolution,  134  et  seq.  ;  effort  to 
set  up  Gates  as  a  rival  of,  136 ; 
attacks  upon,  256 ;  at  Adams's 
inauguration,  266 ;  commander- 
in-chief  of  provisional  army,  288  ; 
concern  in  the  quarrel  concern 
ing  the  rank  of  the  subordinate 
generals,  289-291 ;  possibly  pres 
ent  at  consultation  of  Adams's 
cabinet,  294 ;  plan  for  making 
him  a  candidate  for  the  presi 
dency,  317. 

Wolcott,  Oliver,  secretary  of  the 
treasury,  274 ;  relations  with 
Washington,  Hamilton,  and  Ad 
ams,  275 ;  opposes  a  new  mission 
to  France,  277,  281 ;  concern  in 
the  question  as  to  rank  of  gen 
erals  in  the  provisional  army, 
290 ;  subservience  to  Hamilton 
and  enmity  to  Adams,  311 ;  re 
signs  from  the  cabinet,  315  ;  ap 
pointed  a  judge,  315  ;  aids  Ham 
ilton  in  preparing  his  pamphlet 
against  Adams,  319. 


14  DAY  USE 

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